Adam Ondra spent two days on the rock of the northern Italian sport climbing mecca Arco. During the two days he climbed three difficult routes in just two days.
The Czech climber Adam Ondra once again makes short work of it. He had two days to go climbing in the Garda Trentino region. He couldn't have used the limited time better.
He succeeded in repeating the route Beginning (9a / +) that the local hero Stefano Ghisolfi Free climbing for the first time in May 2020. Adam found a knee clamp on the route and therefore suggested a level of difficulty of 9a.
The knee clamp of course makes the route much less pumpy, which is why I was able to climb the route on my second attempt. The route is therefore more of a hard 9a. Without this knee clamp, however, it could well be that it could even be more than a 9a.
Adam Ondra
Sid Lives also devalued
Not only did the rating of Beginning wobble after Adam's rating. To Sid Lives, originally 9a, says Adam, the rating is more likely in the 8c + area.
A couple of years ago I could almost flash climb the route and haven't gotten on Sid Lives since. Today it worked with the red point ascent. In good conditions, the route's difficulty is closer to 8c +.
Adam Ondra
The third ascent during his stay is the route Atene naturalewhich includes two chipped handles, but can be climbed without them. Adam climbed this route almost in the second attempt in 2018 without the two chipped holds, failed in the third attempt due to a kick that broke out and since then had to climb the route around 15 times before the red point ascent worked.
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Stefano Ghisolfi on the first ascent of the Beginning route
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Credits: Pictures Giampaolo Giampaolo Calza