Adam Ondra Attempts to Onsight Four 5.14s in a Day
The world's best onsighter lived up to his reputation during a sendy session at the Soyhiéres crag in Switzerland
Back in November, Adam Ondra visited the Soyhiéres crag in Switzerland. He had never been to the wall before and decided to spend the day attempting hard onsights. Over the course of his session, he attempted to onsight four different 5.14 routes. A new video was just released documenting his impressive day at the crag, which you can watch below.
Ondra started the day out with a successful onsight of Deja 5.14a. He next tried to onsight Les Tempes Difficiles 5.14c but was unable to get through a tough bouldery section on his first go. Before giving the route another try for the redpoint, he decided to give an onsight attempt on Un Chant Pour Phil 5.14b. Featuring a dyno to a crimp, the route is a difficult one to onsight. Ondra stuck the low-percentage move on his first try and onsighted the route.
He next redpointed Les Tempes Difficles 5.14c on his second try. He then decided to try to send Mines de Rein on his first go. Because the route shares the bottom portion with Un Chant Pour Phil, a first-go send could not be considered a true onsight or flash. Above the shared section, Ondra received no information about the climb, essentially onsighting that portion of the route. He sent the line on his first try, wrapping up a stacked day of onsight climbing at Soyhiéres.
Ondra is the best sport route onsighter and flasher in the world. According to his 8a.nu page, he has onsighted a mind-blowing four 5.14d’s, 23 5.14c’s, 71 5.14b’s, and 107 5.14a’s. He famously flashed Supercrackinette 5.15a in Saint-Léger du Ventoux, France in 2018.
Making Ondra’s Soyhiéres climbing day even more impressive is the fact that on the previous day, he made the first ascent of Chicken Nose 5.15a (9a+) at the Isenfluh crag in Switzerland. Originally bolted by Stephan Siegrist, a Swiss pro alpinist and climber, Chicken Nose extends a previously established 5.13a upwards through a giant roof. Surmounting this roof is the obvious crux of the route, requiring marginal kneebars, poor feet, and the use of some terrible slopey pinches and tiny crimps through shouldery moves. After the roof, the upper section is still totally droppable, keeping the climbing tense to the chains.
Ondra worked the line with Jakob Schubert in Spring 2023 but the pair ended up breaking a key hold, which made the sequence unclimbable without kneepads. On his trip this fall, Ondra unlocked the sequence using a poor kneebar and made the first ascent of the route. He graded it 5.15a and didn’t give it a name right away. He has since decided to name the line Chicken Nose.
Ondra had a successful outdoor season in Fall 2023. After making the first ascent of Ratatouille 5.14d and Filantrop L2 5.14c in Slovakia in late September, he went on to FA B je to! 5.15b and To je to! 5.14b in Croatia. He then onsighted Inferno do Vrha 5.14b and Kingslayer 5.14b and FA’d Fantazija 5.15a in Slovenia. In late October, he flashed Peščena Ura 5.14d in Slovenia. In early November, he made the first ascent of Chicken Nose 5.15a in Switzerland and onsighted El Gran Bellanco 5.14c/d in Montanejos, Spain. While in Montanejos, he also redpointed La Parada de los Monstruos, FA’d El Maquinista 5.15b, and established a 5.14a sport multi-pitch.
After a solid 2023 on the rock, Ondra has already put down some hard onsights and redpoints this year. In early February he onsighted Rock Me Baby 5.13d in Austria and Finement Con 5.14a and Le Brilliant Saoul 5.14b in Buoux, France. He also redpointed Inga 5.14c in Nice, France. February 14th was his biggest day of the year so far, making the second ascent of Bon Voyage 5.14d trad. Two days after Bon Voyage 5.14d, he sent Stéroïde Bull 5.14c in Gréolières, France on his second try. A day after that, he sent Narcissus 5.14d on his second go.
Adam Ondra Onsight Climbs in Switzerland
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