Adam Ondra Downgrades Canadian 5.15a to 5.14d

Czech climber Adam Ondra is currently visiting Canada and made a number of big sends and historic statements with hard onsights and flashes.

On July 9, he watched Miles Adamson attempt Evan Hau’s route in Echo Canyon called Honour and Glory before trying to flash it.

Honour and Glory was first climbed by Hau last year and Hau gave it a grade of 5.15a, but like all grades it needed to be confirmed.

I poured my heart and soul into Honour and Glory for two years. Great day out today watching several people go hard on it! Awesome seeing people psyched on it! This whole wall will produce many stunning hard lines someday. I've been taking a break from the Coliseum hiking this season but I'll definitely be back! Photo from Grzegorz Florek photoincline.com @lasportivana @petzl_official

A post shared by Evan Hau (@hauonearth) on Jul 9, 2018 at 6:02pm PDT

And who better to confirm it than Ondra, who made the first ascent of Silence 5.15d last year and has over 170 flashes of 5.14c or harder.

Last week, Ondra onsighted First Flight 5.14c and Ojas 5.14a at Acephale and is currently working on a 5.15 project at that popular crag.

There were a lot of people at The Coliseum hoping to watch Ondra flash Honour and Glory, including Hau, Sonnie Trotter, a number of other local crushers and two film crews.

But Ondra didn’t flash the proposed 5.15a, it took him two tries before he downgraded it from 5.15a to 5.14d.

One letter grade is not a big deal, in Europe it would be 9a+ to 9a, and Ondra has downgraded countless climbs over the past few years.

Hau said that he was nervous watching Ondra on his route, but felt it would be downgraded because other local climbers had unlocked new sequences over the past few weeks.

Ondra visited Echo Canyon on the weekend, but it was too cold and rainy to climb anything.

No climbing today, just chilling at the crag and it was indeed chilly! Thank you @blackdiamond for making versatile climbing gear – Pipe dream is not only a pack, crash pad and mattress for a nap! Bivy gear! Repost from @sonnietrotter

A post shared by Adam Ondra (@adam.ondra) on Jul 7, 2018 at 3:45pm PDT

Hau deserves a lot of credit for establishing the line and making the first ascent. Having sent a number of 5.14ds, he felt because Honour and Glory felt harder it deserved a harder grade.

Big respect to Hau, Ondra and everyone else out there pushing the bar higher in the Bow Valley. Ondra has not yet attempted Alex Megos’s Fight Club 5.15b in Banff.

On another note, this means that there still is no Canadian to climb a confirmed 5.15a. With Ondra projecting a number of 5.15s in the area (including attempting one of Hau’s next to Honour and Glory that he said is 5.15b) there will be many local projects for Canadians to get strong on.

Ondra’s Canadian Sends, So Far
Honour and Glory 5.14d
First Flight 5.14c onsight
Existence Mundane 5.14b onsight
Ojas 5.14a onsight
Endless Summer 5.13b onsight
Whale Back 5.13c osight
Army Ants 5.13c flash
The Shine 5.14a
Leviathan 5.14a
Hairball Direct 5.13d first ascent
Beam me up Scotty 5.13c

Honour and Glory. Amazing 45m line up in Collosseum, scenic crag high above the town of Canmore was one of the reasons why I went to Canada. One of the few 9a+ (5.15a) that looked flashable and I still had not tried it. Put up by @hauonearth last year, really tremendous effort to open and clean this line into this gem. Yesterday was a special day. @hauonearth and @miles_adamson was there to share the beta with me (thank you so much!), @bigupclimbing @bernartwood and @sonnietrotter were there to film this for @reelrock . I felt ready. I set off and I felt awesome, just flowing up the route. Yet very soon, at 4th bolt it was all over. I did not want to waste my energy drying up my hand after touching a wet hold, as a good hold was getting closer, and this hand slipped. I lowered back to the ground immediately, rested for a few minutes and "flashed" the route on my 2nd go. As for the grade though, my opinion is that it fits more into 9a (5.14d) range. @blackdiamond @lasportivagram @lasportivagram @mytendon @gardatrentino Repost of @sonnietrotter

A post shared by Adam Ondra (@adam.ondra) on Jul 10, 2018 at 12:46pm PDT