Rock Revolutionary

I never really questioned being weaker than the guys,” says Ashima Shiraishi, the five-foot-one, 16-year-old New Yorker who has often been called ‘the world’s most talented rock climber’. “I always thought I had the same strength, and knew I was capable of showing what was possible.”

The blunt-fringed teenager is speeding through the neon-lit streets of Tokyo in the back of a car. It’s late March, the sun is setting