Midtbø started climbing in 2000 at 11 years of age after his mother enrolled him in a class. After just one year of climbing, he won the Norwegian Youth Championship, and a year later, in 2002, he on-sighted his first 8a (5.13b) sport climbing route Øgletryne at the Sageveggen rock wall, near Bergen.[9][10][11]
In August 2010, he completed the route Ali Hulk sit start extension in Rodellar, Spain.[12] The first ascent was made by Daniel Andrada [fr] in 2007. The grade was initially proposed at 9b (5.15b), but was later downgraded to 9a+/b, and then further to 9a (5.14d) in 2023.[1][2]
In May 2013, Midtbø returned to Rodellar to on-sight the sport climbing route Cosi fan tutte which is graded at 8c+ (5.14c). As of April 2013[update], the highest-ever climbing grade to be on-sighted is just one grade higher at 9a (5.14d).[3]
Midtbø retired from competitive climbing in May 2017,[17] saying: "I still get motivated just by climbing. I think some people need a specific goal, but I’ve never felt like I needed one. It sounds really cheesy, I know. I just love climbing. I love being in the nature. I love the feeling of feeling free, but it is like that you know. I don’t know. I like the lifestyle, I like traveling, I like trying hard, and most of all, I like the feeling of feeling really fit, really strong, the feeling of being able to climb anything."[18]
Media career
Midtbø runs an eponymous YouTube channel, which had over two million subscribers as of November 2023.[19]
In 2013, Magnus Midtbø participated in a German TV show Der Deutsche Meister (the German Champion) as the international contestant in the Reckstangenklettern (salmon ladder) challenge. Midtbø beat the German contestant.[20][21]
In 2016, Midtbø was criticized for publishing a picture of himself hanging off the Trolltunga rock formation in Norway. He was wearing a safety harness but local police officers were concerned the stunt might inspire others to replicate it without taking proper safety precautions.[22][23][24]
His sister, Hannah Midtbø (born 1990), is also a professional climber. She won the Nordic Championships (NM) in the lead climbing discipline in 2006[8] and has been a bouldering competitor at various IFSC World Cups and European Championships.[27]
