With his flash ascent of the difficult trad route Lexicon E11 in the Lake District, Adam Ondra once again shows that he is among the absolute elite in traditional climbing.
“There are many climbers who could make these moves, but probably few who would do it in lead,” Dave McLeod once said about Neil Gresham’s Lexicon E11, one of the most difficult Trad routes in the world. At the same time, it is one of the more dangerous of its kind: In the final boulder crux, a 25-meter fall is possible.
All the more impressive that Adam Ondra now with Lexicon he has one of his heaviest trad flashes ever.
A truly special day in England with the first ascentionist Neil Gresham, who secured me very responsibly.
Adam Ondra
So far only Britons successful in Lexicon
Neil Gresham, himself a trad expert and climbing coach, established Lexicon in 2021 after numerous intensive project phases using traditional belaying methods. Since then, Steve mcclure, Dave McLeod, Matt Wright and James Pearson the route in Lake district repeatedly – all of them trad luminaries from Great Britain. None of them had impressed her.
Because of its risky final section, Lexicon E11 is rated with an additional R – which symbolizes the risk of injury on a trad route in the British grading system.
Ondra saves herself a 25-meter fall
Adam Ondra announced on Instagram the sixth ascent of Lexicon – and also the first repeat by a non-British climber. The Czech had previously conducted meticulous research for his flash project: "I've seen all the videos of the route available online."
During the warm-up on easier routes, Ondra made a real effort to ignore Lexicon's holds and start his flash attempt with an open mind.
I was scared and gave it my all. My heart was pounding, but I made it to the top without the giant whipper.
Adam Ondra
The 32-year-old Czech received support from first ascentor Gresham, who not only groomed the route for him personally, but also secured him in his flash attempt of LexiconThe fact that this was successful is pleasing for Ondra for two reasons: He has thus recorded his hardest trad flash to date and has avoided the dreaded 25 meter fall from the final crux.
Huge fall: Steve McClure falls in Lexicon
Adam Ondra has already announced a video about Lexicon, which will appear on his YouTube channel. A reference to the actual dimensions of the route is provided by a video by Steve McClure – who, unlike Ondra, took the huge fall.
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Credits cover photo: Petr Chodura