Gore-Tex has named climber Alex Megos to its global athlete team.

Born and raised in Erlangen, Germany, the 24-year-old Megos started climbing when he was 6 years old. His father introduced him to the high rock walls just outside of Frankenjura, a famous sport-climbing area in Germany. It was this initial introduction to the sport that led him to win his first competition in 2009 at the European Youth Cup Championships.

Megos became the first person to onsight (climb on the first try without prior knowledge of the climb) a route graded 9a/5.14d in difficulty in 2013. The route was Estado Critico in Siurana, Spain. He also climbed the legendary route Action Directe, after just three attempts in a two-hour timespan. Megos soon raised the bar and climbed a route graded 9b/5.15b. Most recently, he completed one of the hardest boulder problems in the world, “The Finnish Line” V15/16 in Rocklands, South Africa.

Megos is also a successful competition climber, with a second-place in the European Bouldering Championships and Lead World Cup in Kranji in 2017.