Adam Ondra did not climb the new, extremely difficult route he had prepared in Flatanger, Norway. When the conditions were the best for a successful attempt, he fell ill. His rival and friend Jakob Schubert, who spent a month’s expedition in the north of Europe with him, also failed.
The route is located in the same cave as the world’s hardest route Silence, which Ondra climbed in 2017. At the time, he set a new difficulty level of 9c. “In 2013, I drilled a difficult project into the form in the left part of the cave. Jakob Schubert and I set out to try this challenge together. What is unique in our sport is that we don’t just compete against each other,” said Ondra at today’s press conference.
Thanks to cooperation, they have a better chance of finding solutions to difficult passages. But the road resisted them this time. “We came back with slightly mixed feelings. We both knew we had it, that we could climb it,” Ondra explained. He himself missed the period that was most favorable for a successful attempt. “I fell ill with the flu and didn’t climb for a week. The next week I was getting back in shape. That way I didn’t take advantage of the exceptional conditions where there was no rain at all for two to three weeks, the rock was dry. Then it rained and the route didn’t dry out completely. At the end we were both close to the climb , but unfortunately it didn’t work,” he said.
Difficulty is determined after climbing, but tentatively Ondra considers the route with the working name Project Big to be slightly easier than the Silence route. It should belong to the harder routes of category 9b+. “Unlike the Silence route, which is about one hard place, it’s about power endurance, there are several hard passages in a row. And the hardest boulder is at the end and there’s a step that took us and Jakob down. We couldn’t get over him,” he added.
The line in the left part of the cave is built on large structures rather than small holds. “It’s the prototype of modern climbing. It’s far more physical, far more powerful. In the last section, after round holds, the steps are extremely demanding for the whole body,” described Ondra, who this year won a complete collection of medals at the European Championships in Munich.
It is not clear when he will have his next attempt at this journey in Flatanger. This Norwegian region is located right next to the Arctic Circle, where adverse weather is already at risk. “If the weather is good, we’ll go back there. If it’s not, it’s better to stay at home and focus on rock projects in the Czech Republic or southern Europe,” added Ondra. He wants to race on artificial walls again only in the spring of next year.
