‘Who is Jakob Schubert‘? This question has a clear and yet wide-ranging answer. Jakob Schubert is a climber. Ambitious, loyal and friendly, and as a seven times overall World Cup winner and recordholder for the most individual victories, he is undoubtedly one of the most successful climbers of his kind. He delves into the most difficult rock climbing routes and likes to set the highest goals possible – always striving for the hardest line. He is determined, but not overly stubborn, because to him, the joy and fun of climbing is part to the most important things in life.
If trying a boulder that was not topped during a competition right after the award ceremony sounds perfectionistic and pedantic, Jakob Schubert is that as well, he is his own biggest critic. It's about recognizing mistakes and working on them so that you are not punished for your weaknesses the next time around.
The Austrian native from Innsbruck trains five times a week in the climbing gym; usually according to feeling and motivation, yet there is hardly a day he would rather skip. The urge to move is not only irrepressible, it has always been deeply rooted. If he hadn't become a climber, he would probably be a professional soccer player or a leader in a logical discipline such as mathematics or physics. It doesn’t matter that much what it would be, as long as his ambition is satisfied.
Being a fitness enthusiast through and through, he has been a successful climber for many years and a diverse sports program helps him to maintain his professional level. The only thing he is not very into is swimming. Jumping into the water even from great heights during his deep water soloing projects in Mallorca, yes, but following a swimlane, never! Climbers don’t seem to cope well with the free chest area, and maybe for once it also lacks the technical talent.
For someone like Jakob it is important to have big goals. Overall World Cup victories in lead climbing and bouldering, various rock climbing projects on the boarderline of what humans are capable of, and more success in future Olympics Games.
Riding on the high of his success at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and his most recent wins at the World Championships in Bern 2023, Jakob now has all eyes set on Paris 2024, but this won’t be without some rocky pit stops along the way. Always seeking the hard line, his ambition to join the exclusive ‘9c Club’ is a goal he hopes to set in stone, as his enthusiasm for rock climbing and climbing with friends is a life-long passionate pursuit for the 32-year-old.
Good food - preferably Japanese, online gaming with his buddies around the world and quality time with his girlfriend and family are among Jakob's favorite activities away from chalk and campus board. Since the special spring 2020, he also found a liking to chess – just right for a detail-loving tactician to plan move after move towards victory.
For tennis god Roger Federer and climbing ace Adam Ondra, the graduated economist feels highest respect. Characteristics such as the irrepressible love for their sport, absolute motivation and permanent striving for improvement – as a sportsman and as a human being – exert this fascination.
For ‘Joggl’, as he is often called in the gym, it is quite similar. After more than 13 years in the World Cup circus and ascents of some of the most difficult rock routes in the world, his hunger for success is still unbroken.
Words by Katrin Strobl
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