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Adam Ondra Sends Climb That’s Half Boulder Problem, Half Route

Ondra's history with the strange climb goes back almost 20 years

On February 8, Adam Ondra visited the Deverse crag in Gorges du Loup, France and found the wall soaked due to rain. Waterfalls rushed down the face of the cliff in multiple spots. One climb remained dry though – Inga 5.14c/d (8c+/9a). Inga is quite an odd line – it starts with sit-start boulder problem and ends with a sport route.

Inga was established by Dai Koyamada way back in 2002. The line kicks off with V12/13 boulder problem that starts seated in a cave. The crux of the problem is a tough left hand bump on some pretty terrible holds. After this crux, the line connects into ‘7 PM JP Chaud’ 5.14b. Ondra sent this portion of the climb in 2005 when he was only 12 years old. It was his second 5.14b ever. In his early teens, Ondra tried the Inga boulder problem, but he wasn’t strong enough to pull off the crux.

“[The] moves felt much more doable this time, and I think that my progression in lead climbing has not been that significant over the years, but my progress in bouldering has been huge,” said Ondra about his Inga send. “But bouldering has been absolutely crucial to really push these boundaries and make a step from [5.14d] to [5.15b] and then to [5.15d]. The hardest routes in the world have very difficult boulder moves.”

Ondra recently released a video documenting his day on Inga 5.14c/d, which you can watch below.

Adam Ondra climbs Inga 5.14c/d

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