[shark]

Which, from some points of view, risks being made banal by its mind-blowing numbers and above all the frequency with which Ondra himself manages to send. But this certainly is anything but banal, on the contrary! And there can be no doubt that what Ondra has shown us during these last fortnight is the start of the future.

 

Not sure what to say either so I'll leave it to the badgers

[Baldy]

Just completely gobsmacking. 8B+ halfway up a wall followed by 9a/+ afterwards.

If he put his mind to bouldering I feel like Daniel Woods would be blown out of the water too.

[Rocksteady]

I was in Oliana on Thursday and watched him trying Shaxi Raxi. He got a big cheer from the onlookers when he made it past the 3rd bolt, which shows how hard and bouldery the start was. Then he was cruising and looking set to do it when he cocked up his footwork and slipped off at about 40m up...

Awe-inspiring pterodactyl-esque screaming ensued. I would have laughed a little if I wasn't so terribly afraid. Normal humans cannot make those sounds!

Really pleased he got it, amazing to watch him climb. I also enjoyed seeing him warm up easily on an 8a.

The kid is the next level.   

[Palomides]

Over on the other channel, Björn is saying that Ondra and Sharma are off to try Chilam Balam together in a week or two.

Then all he has to do is tick Akira and The Big Bang, and that should have finished off pretty much everything from the nineties, no? (OK google tells me that Chila Balam was 2003, but still.)

[Jaspersharpe]

Your going to upset the Gaskinites!

[north_country_boy]

With all these 9b's under his belt, he'll be better placed to grade Overshadow if he comes back 

[GCW]

Your going to upset the Gaskinites!

To be fair, that is basically a boulder problem with a rope.  It was the hardest moves Gaskins ever did, so it's no giveaway at font 8c, so the F9a+ grade is a little misleading.

[SA Chris]

I think Ondrawatch news needs to be recalibrated. Unless the grade has a 9 and a b in it he shouldn't get a mention.

[Paul B]

"Ondrawad" "Ondrawatch" "Ondrawadtch" 

[shark]

With all these 9b's under his belt, he'll be better placed to grade Overshadow if he comes back 

Keith said he's planning to come back in a few weeks

[Adam Lincoln]

With all these 9b's under his belt, he'll be better placed to grade Overshadow if he comes back 

Keith said he's planning to come back in a few weeks

Pete better get a wriggle on then if he wants the second ascent of Big Bang.

[Doylo]

There was a pic in climber of ondra standing under VNB with a cheeky smile.I wouldn't try this route if i was ondra.why if you can climb amazing 50 metre routes with font 8b+ on them would you want to pull on a two move route on razors that the first ascentionist (font 8c climber)had to spend 100 days on

[joel]

"Ondrawad" "Ondrawatch" "Ondrawadtch" 

 

amazing stuff. What's to come....

[iain]

Just incredible.

Did any of it get captured on film? It seems the fancy one that was due last year is still in production.

[mikester]

Truly amazing stuff. Sometimes I'm proud of my modest little achievements, but suddenly seem a bit trivial. Hey ho.

[Yoof]

Whatta monster. Am I the only one who is a bit confused as to what a "Circa" is?

I Like Ondrawadch

[chummer]

Am I the only one who is a bit confused as to what a "Circa" is?

that's priceless! Cheered me up 

[slackline]

Am I the only one who is a bit confused as to what a "Circa" is?

can be used as a dictionary as well as a search engine.

[Beastio]

There was a pic in climber of ondra standing under VNB with a cheeky smile.I wouldn't try this route if i was ondra.why if you can climb amazing 50 metre routes with font 8b+ on them would you want to pull on a two move route on razors that the first ascentionist (font 8c climber)had to spend 100 days on

Take that back! 

[Jaspersharpe]

With all these 9b's under his belt, he'll be better placed to grade Overshadow if he comes back 

Was thinking about this. It's pretty amazing that Ondra is so far ahead of the game that he's acting as a one man boy grade calibrator for the World. Finally we're able to see where routes really stand in history (Open Air being the perfect example) as he also seems pretty good at realising what is hard because it's hard and what just isn't his style. From what he's said already, Steve's routes stand the test and Overshadow may actually be 9b. Which is interesting.

It's also interesting that people are talking about "the next level" as if it's a movement in standards created by a general shift in ability rather than one kid being so much better than everyone else. I realise there are other very talented youngsters coming through (Enzo Oddo, Geoffrey Flanburglaries etc) but Ondra is so far ahead at the moment, I don't think climbing has ever witnessed anything like it. Knocking over 9b projects in a few days and warming down with an 8c+ onsight is incomprehensible. When he does eventually spend some time on something you can see it standing unrepeated for decades.

[IanP]

We arrived at Oliana on a rest day crag tour just in time to hear the cheers when he rp'd the 9b.  Watched him onsight the 8c+ though to be honest its was so low key we thought he hadn't quite made it until we saw the info on the web later - a couple of power screams high up was about it.  I'm sure it's been said before but its amazing how fast he climbs, just blasting through the moves, missing out every other clip as he gets high up. 

Seems to me that he's the Usain Bolt of the climbing working on a different plane to everyone else.  As Bolt  backs off and waves to the crowd while breaking the 100m world record, Ondra has holiday ticks which are among the hardest routes in the world and warms down with an 8c+ onsight.

[Doylo]

With all these 9b's under his belt, he'll be better placed to grade Overshadow if he comes back 

Was thinking about this. It's pretty amazing that Ondra is so far ahead of the game that he's acting as a one man boy grade calibrator for the World. Finally we're able to see where routes really stand in history (Open Air being the perfect example) as he also seems pretty good at realising what is hard because it's hard and what just isn't his style. From what he's said already, Steve's routes stand the test and Overshadow may actually be 9b. Which is interesting.

It's also interesting that people are talking about "the next level" as if it's a movement in standards created by a general shift in ability rather than one kid being so much better than everyone else. I realise there are other very talented youngsters coming through (Enzo Oddo, Geoffrey Flanburglaries etc) but Ondra is so far ahead at the moment, I don't think climbing has ever witnessed anything like it. Knocking over 9b projects in a few days and warming down with an 8c+ onsight is incomprehensible. When he does eventually spend some time on something you can see it standing unrepeated for decades.

Yep tis unreal!

[Palomides]

Photos of Ondra on Chaxi Raxi here

Although to be fair they look like any other pics of Ondra (pale & skinny on steep rock wearing Miuras).

Linked to by http://kairn.com/news_escalade_74844.portfolio-ondra-shaxi-raxi-9b-oliana.html (who persist in undermining their reputation as a serious news source by calling him "Harry Potter"  )


Uh? how come there are two "thumbsup" emoticons in the list but both use the same bbcode? I prefer http://ukbouldering.com/board/Smileys/ukbCustom/thumbsup2.gif

to
http://ukbouldering.com/board/Smileys/ukbCustom/thumbsup.gif

[slackline]

Uh? how come there are two "thumbsup" emoticons in the list but both use the same bbcode? I prefer http://ukbouldering.com/board/Smileys/ukbCustom/thumbsup2.gif

to
http://ukbouldering.com/board/Smileys/ukbCustom/thumbsup.gif

Noticed that too, there was a similar problem with the "wank" smileys but Bubba sorted it.

[Jaspersharpe]

Nice link to another UKC Chilam Balam shitstorm there too.