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Ondra Abandoned a Project in 2012 and Sent it at 5.15b This Year

Bomba 5.15b is one of the most difficult climbs in Arco, Italy

Earlier this year, Adam Ondra made the first ascent of Bomba 5.15b in Arco for his 25th rock climb between 5.15b and 5.15d. He said the route took him five days and that he was hoping it would be 5.15c, but has settled on a hard 5.15b.

Bomba is found to the right of Trofeo dell’Adriatico, another new 5.15a that was recently opened by Gabriele Moroni and quickly repeated by Ondra. Bomba climbs technical sections to the V15 boulder problem which is followed by a section of very thin crimps.

Ondra bolted this project in 2012, abandoned it and returned for the first ascent in 2022. “I bolted it, but I couldn’t really think of any sequence to make that section climbable. I abandoned the project, and 10 years later, I was back to see if something had changed. With a new perspective and experience, I could finally see a way how to pass through this section while I got also distracted by a bit easier variation, which turned out to be not easy at all.” He said the route follows “a series of three beautiful tufa features, with just enough holds between them.”

On Sept. 3, 2017, after four years of projecting and training, Ondra climbed Silence in the Hanshelleren Cave in Flatanger, Norway. Silence was the world’s first-ever route to have a proposed grade 5.15d. On Feb. 10, 2018, he made the world’s first-ever flash of a confirmed 5.15a with his ascent of Super Crackinette in Saint-Léger du Ventoux, France.

Bomba 5.15b

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