Adam Ondra from may be only 15 years old but in recent years has earned a big name for himself as one of the best rock climbers in the world. I met him at a trade show at Fredrickshafen in Germany a few months ago and offered to show him some of the climbing in the Blue Mountains when he came out to Australia for the Climbing World Youth Championships.
Adam won his division (Youth B) in the competition. After the competition Adam unfortunately had only one day for climbing on rock before having to return home to the Czech Republic. So on Monday local hard-man Zac Vertrees and myself took Adam and his parents to Diamond Falls — home to some of the Blue Mountains hardest routes.
This is a quick report on the day and a few photos.
Adam warmed up on Superweak (26) then casually onsighted Hairline 2000 (28). Then Adam had a go at onsighting Mr Tickle (32), read the sequence well and came very close to nailing the last hard move. Unfortunately trying to latch the hold cost him by badly splitting his finger tip.
Onsighting Hairline 2000.
After taping his bleeding finger Adam went to work on Sneaky Old Fox (34). It’s a link-up which combines Fantastic Mr Fox (33) with the crux finish of Grey Area (33) and is one of the hardest routes in Australia. It took him about 10 minutes to work out the intricacies of the first crux then he cruised onsight through the hard climbing up to the final crux. It took him three just tries to nail this final crux move of Grey Area (about V11) and he then worked the move once more and found way to do it virtually statically with a different foot position. This appeared to turn the finish of the route into a “high percentage” move for him.
Sneaky Old Fox – first crux.
Sneaky Old Fox – nailing the Grey Area dyno.
So then after a good rest Adam had a go at sending Sneaky Old Fox on his second shot. He approached it positively as if he had the expectation of doing the route but he came off at the first crux. By now the sometimes sharp Blue Mountains rock had taken its toll on several of his fingers and so he pulled the plug on further attempts at Sneaky Old Fox.
I think given how Adam earlier cruised the middle of the route and how well he worked out the finish, he was actually pretty close to doing the route second shot. On another day, or without a cut finger, it could have easily been different.
Adam finished up the day trying to onsight Mr Meaner (30) and came close — just barn-dooring off the upper dyno — while his split finger was leaving little pools of blood on the holds…
Adam may not have gone away with many big ticks from his one day on rock in Australia but I think he had a great day — and it’s not as if he’d had any time to adjust to the rock. It’s clear that he’s a phenomenal talent but I also like that he seems to be a nice kid with a great attitude.
PS. Zac Vertrees was also climbing well that day. Here’s a shot of Zac cruising a lap on Super Goo (28):
