Age of Ondra (Part III)

Adam Ondra goes to Western Canada to try to flash Honour and Glory (5.15a)—an effort captured in Age of Ondra Part Two—but he fails. So he turns his attention to two 5.15b’s. His first objective is Fight Club, one of Canada’s toughest routes. Though it took Alex Megos five days to complete the first ascent, Ondra, in maniacal Ondra fashion, decides to try to send it in just one day.

Then he shifts his attention to a new project: a short, vertical climb that initially seems almost as uninspiring as it is featureless. Ondra admits that the climb is “definitely weird,” in part because all the holds seem to be facing the wrong way. Ondra calls it a V10 boulder problem up to the crux, which becomes even more heinous once he breaks off an important crimp. But it’s all about the complexity of the moves for him.

Will Ondra out-beta flat concrete? Or will he fail yet again? How does the world’s best climber cope with setbacks and doubt?

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