Adam Ondra has done his 3rd 5.15c FA1 with the FA of Vasil Vasil at Sloup in his native Czech Republic. Ondra comments on the route in this interview with UKC:
It might be weird that I am so happy after having done such a “piece of shit” (referring to the fact that the route is short, painful and in a dirty place), but it was really important for me. The existence of those holds, the seeming impossibility irritated me for a long time… I bolted it 5 years ago and I was urged to send it… One day… And so I did. Better now than never.
A couple of things strike me about this. First, 5.15c is starting to sound like not that big of a deal, but it’s worth remembering that this grade has been climbed only a few times in history by a grand total of two people2. Second, it’s refreshing to see that not only is Ondra Brave & Humble™ when it comes to grading but also when it comes to the quality of the routes he does. You’ll remember he made similar comments about a possible V16, Terranova, that he did in the Czech Republic back in 2011:
In registering the ascent on his 8a.nu scorecard Ondra calls the problem “not the most inspiring line” and indicates that the it is a traverse along the bottom of a sport climbing crag. About the 12 move line he also says, “definitely not the way bouldering should look like”.
Both Terranova and Vasil Vasil strike me as the type of climbs that are very unlikely to be repeated in the near term but are good candidates for the next Adam Ondra to repeat in 10-20 years once they’re done onsighting and repeating all the other 5.15s in the world.
- After Change and La Dura Dura ↩
- So far… ↩
