Adam Ondra

“I live to climb, I climb to feel alive.”

Adam started climbing when he was about three years old and his talent became evident very soon. In 2001 (at age 8), he onsighted his first 7b+ (5.12c). Onsight of his first 7c+ (5.13a) and redpoint of 8a (5.13b) came a year later. During the following four years, he onsighted 8a (5.13b), 8a+ (5.13c), 8b (5.13d), and redpointed 8c (5.14b) and 9a (5.14d). In 2009 (at age 16), he won his first gold medal in lead Climbing World Cup and first silver medal in lead Climbing World Championships, both in the adults category.

In 2012 (at age 19), he redpointed and was the first to scale Change (Flatanger, NOR), the world’s first 9b+ (5.15c). The next year, he redpointed and made the first ascent of La Dura Dura (Oliana, ESP) and Vasil Vasil (Sloup, CZE), both graded 9b+ (5.15c). In 2016 (at age 23), he repeated Dawn Wall (El Capitan, USA), a multi-pitch, 915-meter-high route, in just 8 days. The route was redpointed by Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson a year before. Their ascent took 19 days. In 2017 (at age 24), Adam returned to Flatanger in Norway to redpoint and be the first to top Silence, the world’s first 9c (5.15d). Another great achievement came in 2018, when he was able to flash Super Crackinette (Saint-Léger-du-Ventoux, FRA), a route classified as 9a+ (5.15a).

In 2021 Adam participated as the only Czech climber in the Olympic Games in Tokyo. He made it to the finals and took 6th place in Combined Format (Speed climbing / Bouldering / Lead climbing). Adam spent the following year in the rocks, where he sent the hardest route in the Czechia - Zvěřinec (9b+, 5.15c). At the end of 2022 he made the first free-climb of a wall inside Macocha abyss in Moravian Karst.

Nowadays, while preparing for his second Olympic Games in Paris, Adam devotes his time primarily to his family - his wife Iva and son Hugo.