Adam Ondra Had a Strong Year with V17 and Scary Trad

Adam Ondra had another standout year for the books, one that was focused more on bouldering and trad than steep sport climbing. For those new to climbing, Ondra is a climber from Czech Republic widely considered as one of the greatest climbers of all time. He’s known for pushing the absolute limits of most disciplines, including making the world’s first ascent of a 5.15d with Silence in 2017. He made the second ascent of Dawn Wall (5.14d, 31 pitches) in Yosemite. He’s won multiple world cups, competed at the Olympics and has climbed more 5.15 routes than anyone ever. And speaking of 5.15, he’s the only climber to ever flash one with Supercrackinette 5.15a. And while Ondra climbed more that these, here are some of his hardest in 2025.

Ondra started the year with a flash of El Elegido V14 in Spain, first climbed by Jose Luis Palao Peinado. “I was able to flash El Elegido, which is an incredible boulder.” Ondra said. “It is possibly the bouldering flash ascent that I value the most.” He followed that up with a flash of Ubik Assis V13 before going onto his hardest send of the years.

Ondra made the fourth ascent of Soudain Seul V17 (9A) in Fontainebleau, topping the sandstone problem on just his fifth day of effort. The line is his hardest boulder send to date, and his first of the grade. He had four V16s to his name, three of which were first ascents near his home: Brutal Rider, Ledoborec, and Terranova. The day after topping Soudain Seul, Ondra flashed both Ubik Assis V13 and La Ligne de Bête V14. “This winter, I really wanted to dedicate myself a bit more seriously to bouldering, and obviously, I was thinking about which 9A/V17 could fit my style the best,” said Ondra. “I feel very happy and proud about this send, it means particularly a lot to me especially after the last few seasons when I always felt very close to doing some relevant ascents, but it never really quite happened.  Sending this in 5th session is the icing on the cake. But I know very lucky with perfect conditions every day, with beta videos available from many different climbers and most importantly [Lucien Martinez] who was sessioning with me on Big Island [V15] who insisted that I should keep trying with “squeezing with the feet” beta.”

Ondra followed Soudain Seul up with flashes of two more V14s: Imothep (du Sol), and La Ligne de Bête V14, before shifting gears to run-out trad. In May, Ondra flashed Lexicon E11 7a at Pavey Ark, U.K. “It was truly a special day and a moment in the UK, alongside the first ascensionist [Neil Gresham], who was on a very responsible belay,” said Ondra. “I got scared, I tried hard, my heart was beating, but I made it to the final ledge without testing that massive whipper.”

Ondra followed that up with Poprava V13 flash, Autofix V15, Atom V14 flash, Wolverine V14, Big Illusion V15, Rude V14, Ziqqurat V15, The Ghost Ship V14, and Gliese 581 V14 flash, before once again switching things up to trad.

In Italy, Ondra flashed the famous Greenspit, the steep crack line in Valle dell’Orco that’s tested many strong climbers. Ondra said Greenspit is a landmark route, calling it “one of the most classic and hardest pure crack climbing test pieces in Europe,” noting that it was “revolutionary for the time” because it combined crack technique with “big gymnastic-style moves” on a line that is “very steep, maybe only 13 metres, [but] definitely very pumpy with crux at the end of the roof.” He adds that the rarity of such lines is what elevates it further: “cracks are actually quite rare, which makes it even more special, when you find such a gem like Greenspit.”

Extending the challenge into La Pura Pura, a traverse into Greenspit graded 5.14b, Ondra explains that “since we were there, it was just an obvious step to give it a try as well,” admitting that after the traverse he felt there was “a very little chance that I could actually do the climb,” before recovering in the kneebar. Reflecting on the effort, he said, “What I love about crack climbing is that there is a different sort of fatigue, you can actually fight more, you can dig deeper.”

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Then after climbing Big Nose V15, Ondra made his hardest boulder flash to date with Foundation’s Edge V15. “Some years ago, I would never have thought I would be capable of flashing 8C [V15],” said Ondra. “I never even considered trying one. After flashing several 8B+ [V14] problems with margin this winter, I began to believe it might be possible, and this boulder stayed in my mind as a good candidate. Encouragement from friends, and seeing Foundation’s Edge flashed as the world’s first 8C this summer, made me even more motivated. When everything aligned this November, I knew I was ready. I arrived well prepared, set off, and after a perfect try I stood on top of the boulder. It felt effortless—pure perfection. An unbelievable moment.”

Ondra capped the year with the first ascent of an epic slab pitch in Italy that he’s called Niobe and graded 5.14d, which makes it one of the hardest in the world. “It was pretty crazy just to find the sequences,” said Ondra. Adding that the intense slab moves add “a very interesting element” which he said is foot endurance. “The rock is such low friction that you really have to push in a certain direction so you don’t slip off.”