Alex Megos Makes Third Ascent of Adam Ondra’s Move 5.15b/c
The ascent comes just two weeks after his repeat of Change, the world's first 5.15c
Alex Megos just announced that he redpointed Move 5.15b/c (9b/+) in the Hanshelleren cave in Flatanger, Norway. Established by Adam Ondra in August 2013, the route is one of a few lines in the world with a slash grade of 5.15b/c. Ondra didn’t give a definitive grade assessment upon his FA, suggesting the route was hard 5.15b or 5.15b/c.
Seb Bouin made the second ascent of Move in June 2019, proposing a grade of 5.15b/c. It took him five trips, each two to three weeks in length, to eventually send the line. It was his hardest send at the time.
Megos’ ascent is the second repeat of the line. Unlike Ondra and Bouin, Megos wore double kneepads on the route. On the same day he sent Move, he repeated another of Ondra’s routes: Illusionist 5.14d. The short, bouldery route was established in 2013 and has since seen several repeats, including from Stefano Ghisolfi last week.
“Regarding the grades, I think Move was definitely upper end [5.15b] (I’d give it [5.15b/c]) and Illusionist rather soft for the grade (due to the new kneebar beta),” said Megos on Instagram about the two routes. “I climbed both routes with two kneepads and at this point I’d like to give props to [Adam Ondra] for making the FA’s of those routes without kneepads. The actual crux of Move doesn’t change for me, but to get to the crux is definitely easier with kneepads. Absolutely inspiring that Adam did the FA more than 10 years ago. He could have given it [5.15c] without kneepads in my opinion.”
A couple weeks ago, Megos made the fourth ascent of Ondra’s Change, the world’s first 5.15c. The route was Megos’ third of the grade, and his first ever 5.15c repeat. He made the first ascent of Margalef’s Perfecto Mundo in May 2018. In August 2020, he FA’d Bibliographie 5.15c in Céüse. He has many 5.15b first ascents and repeats to his name, including the second ascent of Chris Sharma’s Sleeping Lion 5.15b earlier this year.
Megos’ Flatanger trip comes on the heels of a disappointing Paris Olympics for the German athlete. After a tough Boulder semi-final round in Paris, an early footslip on the Lead semi-final route ruined his chances of making the finals. He placed 13th overall in the competition.
Seb Bouin on Move
Adam Ondra on Illusionist
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