Adam Ondra wins the La Sportiva Legends Only 2014

Just a tiny adjustment to the beta on the fourth of the five boulder problem, then sent second-go. This was the only thing that seemed to demand some effort off Adam Ondra. Everything else looked easy as he left behind the rest of the very strong field taking part in the fourth edition of the La Sportiva Legends Only, the unique “after work” boulder comp in which the athletes are allowed to project the boulders two days before the actual contest.

Just like the previous editions, the competitors’ list gathered the very best sport climbers of the last few months. Together with the aforementioned Czech phenomenon, the spectators at the Klättercentret gym in the Telefonplan area of Stockholm (Sweden) enjoyed the efforts of the American powerhouses Jimmy Webb and Daniel Woods (both onfiring form after sending numerous 8C problems outdoors), the Germans Alexander Megos and Jan Hojer (the latter winner of the 2014 Bouldering World Cup) and the Slovenian rising star Jernej Kruder (winner of the Rock Master Boulder comp and the Adidas Rockstars competition).

Such a great line-up of climbers required an some equally amazing problem setters and the Swedish organisation, that could bank on its experienced local team, invited none other than Kilian Fischhuber (who retired from comps eralier this year after a career that netted him over 40 World Cup podiums) and Sean McColl, the relentless Canadian who won yet another title this season, the 2014 Combined World Cup.

This year Björn Pohl, the driving force behind this special event, decided to spice things up further by making other changes to the competition format. So on Saturday night the six competitors were asked to take turns at attempting each problem, with only a maximum of three attempts allowed should the first and second ones be unsuccessful. Moreover, after the first four boulders, only the top three ranking athletes would be allowed to qualify for the final, and possibly decisive, boulder problem.

In practice, the new format completely eliminates the countdown element, although this change also takes away the thrill of the time-bound challenge and those nerve-wrecking attempts that start seconds before the clock reaches zero. On the other hand, not having to do more than one attempt in a row kept the athletes fresher for longer throughout the competition, which seemed a quicker event than most World Cup finals. Enough about the rules though, now let’s talk about what really happened…

The first boulder, possibly the least difficult, featured a long dyno with a campus follow-up and then some slopers and pinches. It was topped first-go by Webb, Megos, Hojer and Ondra, whilst Daniel Woods needed a second go and Jernej Kruder walked away with only a bonus in three attempts.

The second boulder was more technical and required climbers to squeeze between big volumes and to push off them. The number of tops tumbled drastically from the five of the first boulder to just two for this one, courtesy of Hojer and Ondra (both at their first try).

At that point, the head-to-head between Adam and Jan was already reminescent of the final of this year’s Boulder World Championships in Münich, when the Czech won at the last problem. However, the third boulder shuffled the leaderboard again, since it was topped by everybody except Jan who failed to make it past some extremely small and slopery crimps. Meanwhile, Adam Ondra looked more and more fearsome as he collected his third first-go top, distancing himself even further from the pack.

The fourth challenge marked an early triumph for the 21-year-old from Brno. Only he and Alex Megos managed to maintain the body tension as they latched a heinous crimp in a gastone move, with Adam managing to top the extreme boulder on his second go, meaning that he reached the final boulder with certain victory and with Alex Megos and Jan Hojer trailing behind by two tops.

The gap between the on-form Czech and the rest was widened further on the last boulder, with yet another first-go top by Adam, whilst Megos got a bonus in three attempts, maintaining second place and leaving Jan Hojer to settle for third.

All things considered, this was an exciting edition of the La Sportiva Legends Only, with yet a new format and a number of surprises. Last year’s champion Jimmy Webb managed only two tops and finished fourth (for the record, he competed with a slightly injured finger) whilst Alexander Megos, theoretically the underdog if you look at his bouldering resumé, did well with his great second place behind a truly on-fire Adam Ondra.

by Franz Schiassi

Final results
1. Adam Ondra – 5 tops in 6 attempts, 5 bonus holds in 5 attempts
2. Alexander Megos – 2 tops in 2 attempts, 5 bonus holds in 6 attempts
3. Jan Hojer – 2 tops in 2 attempts, 4 bonus holds in 6 attempts
4. Jimmy Webb – 2 tops in 2 attempts, 2 bonus holds in 2 attempts
5. Daniel Woods – 2 tops in 3 attempts, 2 bonus holds in 3 attempts
6. Jernej Kruder – 1 top in 2 attempts, 2 bonus holds in 3 attempts

WINNERS LA SPORTIVA LEGENDS ONLY
2013 - James Webb - competing against Jan Hojer, Nalle Hukkataival, Sean McColl, Alexander Megos, Dmitry Sharafutdinov
2012 - Sean McColl - competing against Guillaume Glairon Mondet, Adam Ondra, Jakob Schubert, Dmitry Sharafutdinov
2011 - Adam Ondra - competing against Anthony Gullsten, Paul Robinson, Daniel Woods, Dmitry Sharafutdinov