Adam Ondra Establishes France’s Hardest Route
Adam Ondra has breezed C.R.S. (5.15b), claiming the first ascent of the route he considers to be France's hardest—in only three days.
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Adam Ondra has breezed C.R.S. (5.15b), claiming the first ascent of the route he considers to be France’s hardest—in only three days. Located near Mollans in southeastern France, Ondra writes that the cliff is, “The future, ranked number two after Flatanger for me in terms of 9b’s and more,” on 8a.nu.
“What a moment! Extremely satisfying ascent, nice to feel progression on real rock. This route bolted [by] Seb Bouin is [the] ultimate power-endurance testpiece, combining desperately physical overhang with extremely thin holds on the very top. Last try, last day, three days in total and one try two years ago. Never did a ‘real’ 9b so fast,” Ondra writes.
Sébastian Bouin, C.R.S. visionary and route-equipper, nabbed the third ascent of Villanueva Del Rosario’s Chilam Balam in May, making him one of eight climbers to redpoint 5.15b.
Jens Larssen, founder of 8a.nu, reports that C.R.S. is Ondra’s thirteenth 5.15b. Ondra has redpointed more routes of the grade than any other climber. Chris Sharma comes in second, with eight 5.15b sends.
While Ondra seems to be focused primarily on the competition season, winning gold in last month’s Lead World Cup in Wujiang, China, his indoor training has paid off with recent outdoor achievements. This fall, Ondra redpointed Classified (5.14d) and its sibling variation, Modified (5.15a), both Alex Megos first ascents in the Frankenjura.
Ondra will compete in the last Lead World Cup competition of the year in Kranj, Slovenia, on November 14-15. He currently ranks second for this year’s World Champion title.
Finally summer is over. Good day of shooting in St. Leger, France. @blackdiamond #france#fall
A photo posted by Bernardo Gimenez (@bernardo_gimenez) on
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