Kai Lightner

Kai Lightner (born 1999) is an American professional competitive sport climber from Fayetteville, North Carolina. In 2016 Lightner was featured alongside climber Ashima Shiraishi in the Reel Rock 11 film "Young Guns". In 2017, Lightner won Sport Open Nationals in Denver, Colorado. He also won the Open/Adult Lead Climbing National Champion in 2015 at age 15. Overall, he has earned 12 National Championship titles and is a 5 time youth work championship medalist.
Learning to climb.
When Lightner was six years old, he climbed a 50 foot tall flagpole in his hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina. A woman passing by on the street gave Lightner's mother the address of a local climbing gym.
Personal life.
Lightner is currently enrolled at Babson College and hopes to become an entrepreneur.
Climbing for Change (C4C).
In summer 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd protests, Lightner founded a nonprofit called Climbing for Change (C4C). The goal of C4C is to help provide opportunities for people of color inside climbing gyms and outside.