Adam Ondra frees historic aid climb in Macocha cave, Czechia

29-year-old Czech climber Adam Ondra has made the first free ascent of a somewhat unusual multipitch, a historic aid line not on a big face somewhere up in the mountains but down a huge limestone cave in his home Moravský Kras region in the Czech Republic.

The route freed by Ondra is located in the Macocha cave, a massive sinkhole known in the speleological world for being the deepest daylight hole cave in Europe. Ie. a cave that is not sealed off entirely, but which opens up and receives the light of day. Much of the spectacular cave can be visited by the public, and it is on one of these steep walls that cavers established an aid line back in 1986. Local climbers Dušan Janák and Jan Straka tried to free the route in 2015, and during their efforts they replaced the belay anchors as well as a handful of bolts on the pitches. Most of the climbing however is protected by the original, dubious aid bolts and pegs, and to back these up Ondra placed one piece of additional pro, a cam in a crack.

Ondra attempted the five-pitch outing ground-up but failed on his onsight attempt of the 8b+ pitch 1, which he then dispatched second go. Pitch 2, 8b+ once again, was redpointed second go, as was the 8a+ pitch 3. From here a 7a and 6c lead more easily to the top.

Apart from the technical difficulties, Ondra noted that much of the route was covered in a thin layer of typical moravian karst dust which rendered the climbing significantly more physical and insecure. To make matters even more complicated, since the cave is open to the public and the route sits directly above the giant concrete walkway used by the tourist circuit, climbing is only permitted upon special request and for a mere 5 days in the month of December.

Ondra's original aim had been to link the first two pitches into one mammoth 70m outing which would bump the grade up considerably. Unfortunately though the temperatures rose slightly on the last day of his 5-day permit, resulting in condensation forming and the rock being simply too damp. Describing the ascent as as adventurous, difficult and a unique experience, despite being located just half an hour from home he will now have to wait for freezing conditions in December 2023 before giving the route another go.

On a more general note, speleologists have obviously climbed in caves for generations during their explorations of new systems, but hard free climbing in caves this deep is a relatively new phenomenon. At present there are no codified rules concerning rock climbing in daylight hole caves, and ethics will probably vary from one region to the next.

Info: www.adamondra.com, Instagram Adam Ondra, La Sportiva, Mammut