[jwi]

How many of us understand how much power he needs to climb 9c? Extrapolation gives me that he need insane endurance, or the ability to boulder around 9A

[Moo]

 
9b+     3       
 
9b        9       
 
9a+     20       
 
9a      68       
 
8c+   111       
 
8c      130

 

[Fiend]

Adam Ondra, the 100 x 9a or harder interview

Once again I as impressed by his eloquence, positivity, and love for climbing, as all the big numbers.

[cheque]

Does anyone know how many 9th grade routes there are? Before today I would have guessed 100 or less. Is Ondra well on his way to ticking them all or am I just completely clueless or both?

[a dense loner]

Clueless 

[r-man]

I pasted this list into excel and it came up with about 185. This list probably isn't definitive but somewhere round 200 seems likely.

http://www.udini.com/climboid/hardestmoves

[iwasmexican]

Not quite as bad as Mcclure downplaying his finger strength.

so tell me he looks as strong as nalle watching these side by side:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Fezk14WH3jI#t=152

[Kingy]

True Nalle looks more solid but I reckon he probs worked it for longer.. and that was a while ago, with Paxti's ubertraining workouts, I bet Ondra would path that now

[mini]

Watch Ondra on mute and you get a much different impression.

[r-man]

True Nalle looks more solid but I reckon he probs worked it for longer..

Why do you think that? A quick google search shows Ondra worked it for 11 days. Nalle was apparently close in the first week, then had to wait for rain before doing it the next week.

Ondra isn't the only beast training hard!

Ondra has made a point of repeating lots of older routes and Nalle seems to be doing the same on the boulders with Gioia, Bugeleisen, Emotional Landscapes etc.

Then there's Woods, with 19 8C's! Possibly even more impressive than Ondra's 100 - it's a huge quantity of ascents at pretty much the top grade in bouldering, whereas Ondra has only done 12 9b/+.

[Doylo]

Ye but boulderings easier 

[Kingy]

True Nalle looks more solid but I reckon he probs worked it for longer..

Why do you think that? A quick google search shows Ondra worked it for 11 days. Nalle was apparently close in the first week, then had to wait for rain before doing it the next week.

Ondra isn't the only beast training hard!

Ondra has made a point of repeating lots of older routes and Nalle seems to be doing the same on the boulders with Gioia, Bugeleisen, Emotional Landscapes etc.

Then there's Woods, with 19 8C's! Possibly even more impressive than Ondra's 100 - it's a huge quantity of ascents at pretty much the top grade in bouldering, whereas Ondra has only done 12 9b/+.

Yes you may be right there, they probs worked the problem for similar times. I just have the feeling that Ondra may be on a slightly higher level now. I'm with Doylo on this, Wood's achievements are extremely impressive but not as impressive as 100 routes >9a!

[Doylo]

Plus there's quite a lot of 8Cs in the world, there's only 3 9b+s and still relatively few 9bs.

[Moo]

There's no real debate though here is there, Ondra has done all of the very hardest routes and all of the very hardest boulder problems.

Where there are 8c boulders he hasn't done it's because he hasn't tried them rather than failing on them. He has the hardest flash to date and has proven that he's no slouch on multi pitch routes etc.

[r-man]

There's no real debate though here is there, Ondra has done all of the very hardest routes and all of the very hardest boulder problems.

Where there are 8c boulders he hasn't done it's because he hasn't tried them rather than failing on them. He has the hardest flash to date and has proven that he's no slouch on multi pitch routes etc.

Come on, let's not get silly. I'm not disagreeing Ondra is amazing, but he's not God. And he might be the best alround climber but it's not so clear cut on bouldering. For starters, of course he has failed on things. For instance, he never managed Livin Large (though it sounds like he got close) http://www.climbing.com/news/rocklands-wrap-up-by-adam-ondra/

...Nobody is that far ahead of the pack these days to be able to do every boulder problem (It's incredible that he seems to be able to do pretty much every sport route though). He says so:

And of course I've failed on many more boulder problems, since in bouldering it's easier to come across certain one-movers that dk!on't suit my style, or perhaps the line doesn't inspire me enough to keep trying. But one day I might be back!

And according to his scorecard he doesn't have any 8B+ flashes, though of course he downgraded Gecko assis (as did Woods and Webb) and Confessions (as did Webb). Woods has flashed Entlinge, 8B+, which he downgraded from 8C. And Webb has 9 8B flashes, whilst Ondra has 7.

All I'm saying is that there are others operating at a similar level in bouldering, whereas in routes Ondra is clearly on his own. (Though it would be interesting to see Megos put more than a couple of days into a project). Of course, it's incredible that he can perform at that level in bouldering whilst also doing so much on routes and occasionally on plastic.

[Fiend]

This is turning into the UKB version of Youtube comments on supercar videos 

[lagerstarfish]

out of interest. what's his "almost never fail to onsight and would be really surprised if I did fall off" grade?

routes, that is

[tomtom]

HVS

[Clart]

out of interest. what's his "almost never fail to onsight and would be really surprised if I did fall off" grade?

routes, that is

In bouldering it's < Font 5+ (... from 2:28):

[Mike Tyson]

I must be the strongest boulderer out there then as I onsighted that side of L'angle Allain...... 

[a dense loner]

You don't onsight anything in bouldering!

[nik at work]

Well maybe you don't...

[Mike Tyson]

What is the correct terminology then for doing a boulder problem first attempt with no help, pointers or advice? 

[bendavison]

out of interest. what's his "almost never fail to onsight and would be really surprised if I did fall off" grade?

He OS/flashed 46% of all his 8b+ according to dpmclimbing: http://www.dpmclimbing.com/articles/view/adam-ondra-sends-his-100th-9a.

Had a quick look at his 8a scorecard for this year and last year:
8a - flashed/os 90%
8a+ - 96%
8b - 55%
8b+ - 64%
8c - 67%
8c+ - 20%
9a - 13%

So, what tomtom said.

[a dense loner]

You just flash it, you can see every move from the floor