Adam Ondra Onsights 5.14c/d
Ondra continues his recent streak of hard onsights, flashes, and FAs
Photo by: Petr Chodura
On a recent trip to Montanejos, Spain, Adam Ondra onsighted El Gran Bellanco 5.14c/d (8c+/9a) in the Pilas Alcalinas cave. Ondra has been on an onsighting tear in recent weeks. In late August, he onsighted two 5.13d’s and two 5.14a’s in a day at the Vranjača cave in Croatia. In early October, he onsighted two 5.14b’s while visiting Ter, Slovenia: Kingslayer and Inferno do Vrha. In Switzerland more recently, he onsighted Un Chant Pour Phil 5.14b and Deja 5.14a at the Soyhières crag.
“Very happy to onsight this route that I have had in my mind for quite some time,” he said about El Gran Bellanco on Instagram. “The execution was perfect, and [I didn’t] made any mistakes. And clipping the chain was great, as well as seeing the local climbers from Montanejos being super stoked about that.”
While others in the past have called the route a soft 5.14d, Ondra gave it a slash grade of 5.14c/d. The highest grade Ondra has onsighted in the past is 5.14d. The only other climber to onsight the grade is Alex Megos, the first climber in history to do so with his first-go ascent of Estado Critico in Siurana, Spain in March 2013. In July 2013, Ondra achieved his first 5.14d onsight with Cabane au Canada in Switzerland, but years later suggested 5.14c for the route. In May 2014, he onsighted Il Domani 5.14d in Bilbao, Spain. A few months later he onsighted TCT 5.14d in Gravere, Italy. Many years passed until his next 5.14d onsight –Water World 5.14d in the Osp cave in Slovenia last year.
On top of all these recent onsights, Ondra’s had a very successful month and a half of climbing in Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Switzerland. After making the first ascents of Ratatouille 5.14d and Filantrop L2 5.14c in Slovakia late September, he went on to FA B je to! 5.15b and To je to! 5.14b in Croatia. In Slovenia, he flashed Peščena Ura 5.14d and FA’d Fantazija 5.15a. In Switzerland, he made another 5.15a first ascent, a currently unnamed route at the Isenfluh crag.
El Gran Bellanco
Feature photo by Petr Chodura.
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