The premise of Ondra’s latest adventure has all the makings of a great story.
It involves a 500-foot cave in his native Czech Republic that offers the longest and steepest wall in the country. It was pioneered by Czech aid climbers in the 1990s using typewriter components for protection. Then, modern sport climbers spent a few years trying to free it — but the freezing cold, wet rock, and elite-level climbing proved too much.
And, oh yeah, the government allows just 5 days of the year for climbing.
“So it must be somebody who’s able to climb 8b, 8b+ in subzero temperatures very quickly,” cave veteran Dusan Janek said in the vid.
Cue the Enrico Morricone music and cut to Ondra, who spends the rest of this stellar documentary cruising up what appears to be very challenging climbing.
“In the context of him being one of the best climbers in the world, I believed he would send it,” Janek said. “However, it took my breath away how quickly and easily he did it.”
Climbing nerds, take note: This one’s worth watching.
Runtime: 34 minutes
