Just a few days after flashing "The Lion's Share" in Brione, Adam Ondra has now also successfully flashed "Celestite" in Val Bavona on his first attempt. It is his third flash at grade 8C – there are only five such routes worldwide.
What a week for Adam OndraDuring his visit to Switzerland, the 33-year-old first made a clean sweep in Brione. There he not only bouldered "The Lion's Share" on his first attempt – his second 8C flash – but also "Flash Flood" (8B).
After narrowly missing out on flash ascents of "Deep Fake" (8C+) and "Vecchio Leone" (8B) in Brione, Ondra moved on to Val Bavona. There, he has now achieved his third 8C flash with Dave Graham's "Celestite." The Czech climber has once again demonstrated that he is currently in the best bouldering form of his life.
Adam Ondra's week in Ticino at a glance
- February 24: Brione
“Flash Flood” (8B) – Flash
»Deep Fake« (8C+) – Adam falls on the first go when moving to the edge and does not make another attempt in order to save energy for the next day. - February 25: Brione
»The Lion's Share« (8C) – Flash
"Vecchio Leone" (8B) – Adam's foot slips during the flash attempt when attempting the pinch. He doesn't invest another go. - February 28: Val Bavona
»Captain Nemo« (8C) – No flash, but Adam only needs a few attempts to top the boulder.
»Celestite« (8C) – Flash
"Celestite": Ondra's most unlikely 8C Flash
After flashing "The Lion's Share," Adam Ondra had already announced that he had other candidates in mind for an 8C flash. "Celestite," however, was never among them: the many knee bars, toehooks, and sequences of holds required to work one's way up the almost vertical edge of the line seemed far too complex.
The boulder doesn't look flashable at all.
Adam Ondra
Dave Graham, who made the first ascent of "Celestite" in 2023, used a relatively complicated beta with many moves. Graham covered the few but very intense meters of climbing relatively slowly due to what he described as "terrible" footholds.
Video: Dave Graham's first ascent of »Celestite« (2023)
Beta tips from Pietro Vidi and Giuliano Cameroni
For Adam Ondra, one thing was clear: a flash of "Celestite" was extremely unlikely. That morning, he therefore focused on "Captain Nemo" (8C), a relatively popular line from early 2024. While he didn't quite manage the flash, he still topped it in a handful of attempts.
In the afternoon, the humidity rose slightly – “actually exactly what you want with the type of rock from ‘Celestite’,” writes Ondra. on his blogEquipped with two kneepads (like the first ascensionist) and with beta tips from Giuliano Cameroni and Pietro Vidi, he ultimately decided to attempt a flash.
Nobody – myself included – expected me to get very far on this boulder.
Adam Ondra
It went much better than expected: "All the body positions felt good, my kneepads held up. Just before I thought my biceps were about to give out, I was already at the edge." Despite sweaty hands on the exit slopers, Ondra kept his cool and finished the line – this time without power screams, but with a touch of disbelief.
Originally rated 8C+
The usual musical accompaniment is not missing, however, because "Celestite" is roughly on the easier end of 8C. On the contrary: Just like Adams' last 8C flash, "The Lion's Share," "Celestite" was initially rated 8C+.
Since Graham's first ascent in 2023, only Francesco Berardino and Pietro Vidi have repeated "Celestite"—Ondra's flash is the fourth ascent. Vidi, who had provided Ondra with a beta, had completed the line just a few days earlier. While Berardino declined to comment on the grade, Pietro Vidi and Adam Ondra agree: with their beta, 8C is a better grade than 8C+.
»Celestite« is 8C – Dave's original beta was just a bit heavier.
Adam Ondra
What's next for Adam Ondra?
Given Adam Ondra's string of Flash successes, one wonders when the 33-year-old will return to projecting even more difficult lines. It could still be some time: because in an interview with Planetmountain Ondra reported knee problems that forced him to abandon his work on "Alphane" (9A). His first and so far only 9A, "Soudain Seul" in Fontainebleau, was completed in early 2025 after five sessions.
Adam Ondra is currently rightly considered the best and most versatile climber in the world. The Czech not only holds three of the five hardest boulder flashes in the world, but also an ascent of the highest confirmed boulder grade 9A and the highest climbing grade 9c.
Ondra also consistently achieves exceptional results in trad climbing. In 2025, he flashed the extremely difficult classics »Lexicon« (E11) in the Lake District and »Greenspit« (8b+ trad) in the Valle dell'Orco.
That might interest you
- Flash train for Adam Ondra | Second flash of Foundation's Edge (8C)
- Adam Ondra flashes risky trad route Lexicon E11 in the Lake District
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Credits cover photo: Photo by Giuliano Cameroni, © Adam Ondra