Adam Ondra convinces his Disbelief 9b in Canada

One of Adam Ondra’s principle traits is his unwavering belief in his own abilities, but even the 25-year-old was beginning to doubt whether the open project at Acephale in Canada was feasible. The moves on the tiniest crimps were simply too "low percentage" up the "vertical wall with almost no holds" and, to make matters worse, Ondra had broken a crimp making the crux sequence even harder.

As reported, at the same crag Ondra ha onsighted the 8c+ First Flight, a lifetime’s achievement for almost everyone, but the main goal of the trip had been this project or a repeat of Fight Club, the 9b freed by Alexander Megos at Ravens Crag in 2016.

With a mere 4 days left before his return flight to Europe it seemed as if he’d return home - to the Arco stage of the Lead World Cup 2018 to be precise - empty-handed, so to speak. But appearances can be deceptive and yesterday against all expectations Ondra managed to remain stuck to the wall, his foot didn’t slip off the hold and he incredulously clipped the anchor, hence the name of the route Disbelief. "I cannot think many other routes where I climbed so close to my limit" was Ondra’s concluding though. Not bad for a 9b slab!

ADAM ONDRA 9b - 9c
03/2010 Golpe de Estado, Siurana, Spain, repeat
02/2011 La Capella, Siurana, Spain. 9b, first ascent
03/2011 Chaxi Raxi, Oliana, Spain. 9b, first ascent
04/2011 Chilam Balam, Villanueva del Rosario, Spain. 9b, repeat
04/2011 La Planta de Shiva, Villanueva del Rosario, Spain. 9b, first ascent
10/2012 Change, Flatanger / Hanshallaren, Norway. 9b+, first ascent
02/2013 Fight or Flight, Oliana, Spain. 9b, repeat
02/2013 Dura Dura, Oliana, Spain. 9b+, first ascent
08/2013 Iron Curtain, Flatanger / Hanshallaren, Norway. 9b, first ascent
08/2013 Move, Flatanger / Hanshallaren, Norway. 9b, first ascent
12/2013 Vasil Vasil, Sloup, Czech Republic. 9b+, first ascent
02/2014 First Round First Minute, Margalef, Spain. 9b, repeat
11/2015 C.R.S., Mollans, France. 9b, first ascent
02/2016 Stoking the Fire, Santa Linya, Spain. 9b, repeat
10/2016 Robin Úd 9b, Alternativna stena, Slovakia, first ascent
02/2017 Mamichula, Oliana, Spain. 9b, first ascent
04/2017 Queen Line, Laghel - Arco, Italy, 9b, first ascent
04/2017 Lapsus, Andonno, Italy, 9b, first repeat
07/2017 Move Hard, Flatanger / Hanshallaren, Norway. 9b, first ascent
09/2017 Silence, Flatanger / Hanshallaren, Norway. 9c, first ascent
11/2017 One Slap, Laghel - Arco, Italy, 9b, first repeat
07/2018 Disbelief, Acephale, Canada, 9b first ascent

Info: www.adamondra.com, Instagram Adam Ondra, www.lasportiva.com

"Disbelief" 5.15b (9b), probably upper end of the grade. Acephale, Canmore, Canada. It was a crazy day. I almost wanted to give up. After two tries, when I got to the crux move (which is actually a foot move) totally fresh, I would slip off for like 15th time. No light in the end of the tunnel, despite the fact I stuck the move 10 days ago once, only to fall off 2 moves higher. On my 3rd try of the day, I somehow did not slip and did bot fall. I cannot think many other routes where I climbed so close to my limit. @blackdiamond @mytendon ,@lasportivagram @montura_official @gardatrentino @bernartwood

A post shared by Adam Ondra (@adam.ondra) on Jul 21, 2018 at 9:53am PDT