OPEN INTERVIEW to ... ADAM ONDRA

[9b]

" Es como de otro planeta ".
( It's as if he's from another planet ).

Dani Andrada dixit.

All climbers know who is Adam Ondra.
His palmares at 8a.nu ( routes and boulders ), at his age, is just crazy.

" It's finished for us guys ! This kid is the new school " Tony Lamiche said at Melloblocco.
He is re-defining sport climbing standards.
And breaking barriers.

Adam is also an open minded person, so he accepted a different kind of interview.
Why different ?
Because, WE, climbers, climbing journalists AND NOT, we all can ... write here our questions for him !

I was so happy when reading his following words:
" I totally agree with your questions and questions from you readers. That is for sure good idea to ask what climbers want to know. "
Thank You Adam :-) !

Lot of cooperative and partecipative power occurs to interview Adam, so, what would YOU ask to him ?

No problem if You are a 10-15 years old climber: You can write here Your questions, may be Yours will be the best ones !

Please, in order to help Adam, just give a number to Your questions between others, thanks.


(Adam on Martin Krpan 9a, Misja Pec)


Let's start.

Dear Adam,

first of all, THANK YOU !

here are my questions.

To answer the questions, You can register here, take Your profile as a kind of "pre-interview" and then write Your answers directly on comments' space of this post .

You can choose everything:

- the questions You like to answer or not
- when write Your answers
- if write all the answers together or not (may be the best is 1 answer a day, then another answer another day and so on).

It's totally up to You.

"WHY SO STRONG" questions:

1 - for sure You are a climbing wizard, do You like to be called " Harry Potter " :-) ?

2 - Which are Your secrets ? How did You improve so fast ?

3 - Cleverness, technical skills, weight, training, power of mind, travelling, age, ... etc, God ? :-): can You try to give a value, if not a percentage, to the various components, to explain us Your performances ?

4 - How is Your training ? Is it true that You don't use neither hanging board nor pan gullich ?

5 - How would You suggest to other climbers to train to have some good results ?

Adam Ondra in Spain ||| February 07
Caricato da jardcs

(Adam in Catalunya, Spain, 2007)


6 - Pete O'Donovan wrote about a new "dynamic technique": not just the " odd lunge, but move after move of calculated and accurate dynos ": what do you think about it ?
In Your opinion, is this so effective to minimize power expenditure ?

7 - On La Rambla, in order to reduce rope-drag, You missed out several of the clips on the upper section, risking big falls if You came off: it seems You like the “climb more clip less “ style :-) ! Isn'it ?

8 - Recently, You onsighted "The snatch" (7c) a serious highball in Cresciano: how do You fight (and win ...) against Your fears and risks ?

"TRAVELLING & languages CLIMBING " questions:

9 - I see You are a " traveller climber ": how much is important to travel for Your climbing ?

10 - Did You know many foreigner climbers in Your climbing travels ? How was Your feeling with them, their culture and languages ?

(Adam in Santa Linya, Spain, speaking with Chris Sharma and climbing "Fuck the system", 9a)

11 - How much is important for You and Your climbing practicing foreigner languages ?


"Past, present, FUTURE" questions:

12 - Do You know some of the climbing pioneers and legends ? Which inspire You the most ? Why ?

13 - Which are the climbers in the world who are now inspiring and impressing You the most ? Why ?

14 - You recently said: “definitely todays hardest routes are far below the human maximum”, then I read You think is possible to climb 9c after work and 9a onsight.
In which way You imagine a 9c route ?
Which grade do You think is possible to reach in bouldering ?
In sport multipitches ?


( "final" boulder, 7c+/8a, on the outdoor bouldering competition Hudy Boulder Cup 2007)

15 - You said now You would like to climb some bouldery 9as and we see You are " training " (!?) on super fast super hard boulder ascents, in Melloblocco too:

After Action Directe and other bouldery 9a routes, which other routes are You interested to climb ? Biographie-Realization ? Coupe de grace ? Neanderthal ? Akira ? Ali Hulk sit start ? Chilam Balam ? Which other routes are You dreaming ? (updated sep. '08: Jumbo love ? :-)
Or You prefer to open a new project from Yours close to Your house ?

16 - What do You think about the proposal to share and confirm a 9b route ? ;-)

17 - I read You said: “ Terribly hard is to compare endurance routes with bouldery ones, so one cannot compare Moravian Karst and Spain too much. Generally I think following:
in Spain you need only power and knowledge of how to depump on a jug (some better technique makes it only a bit easier).
In the Frankenjura you need brutal power (a lot more than in Spain), you have to figure out how to climb it.
And in Karst you need power, learn how to climb it and in addition you have to be able to stand on slippery footholds.
In the conclusion it looks that you feel the same in every route with the only difference - in Spain you do on 2nd attempt, in Jura on 10th one, in Karst on 20th.. ":
if You do two routes of the "same" grade and to climb the first one You need 2 tries (updated nov. 08), the second one 20 tries ... I guess the second route is ... harder than the first one ... is it right ? One million dollars question ...


("Sanjski par", 9a, Misja pec, Slovenia)

18 - What about vertical, technical, fingerpower "old school" walls ?
May You write here Your sensations about La Rambla and " La Via de l'Alzina " (the 8b route You tried to on-sight after You climbed La Rambla) ?

19 - Which is the best rock You saw and/or climbed ?

" PERSONAL" questions:

20 - at the beginning, how was born Your desire to climb ?

21 - And now ? Can You explain why climbing is so fun for You ? Which is the most important thing in Your climbing ?

22 - Which are Your main interests if not sport ?

23 - You are a student: what do You learn from the rock that school doesn't teach You ?

Adam Ondra Zatopek
Caricato da berlang

(Adam on Zatopek, 8b+, Grotta dell'Areonauta, Italy)

24 - If You really would have the magic wand:
would You just climb all the time ?
Which place on earth You would choose to go live and climb ?
Or You would prefer just travel around the world ?

25 - Is there someone special You want to thank for helping You in reaching Your climbing goals ? How much were/are important Your parents and/or family to realize Your goals ?

26 - Would You like to visit some crags here around in Lombardia ?


The "final" route, european championships, Prague, 18 mai 2008



So, Adam,

that's all from me:
many questions, I know, too many if added to questions from others, but You are totally free to select the questions You like to answer OR NOT and take all Your time, MONTHS too :-)

Thank You again.

If You like, for sure You can upload here some other photos from Yours.
Sorry for my poor questions and my bad english.

Thanks in advance also to all cooperative and partecipative climbers for their questions.

Anybody who likes to translate this interview in other languages is welcome.
Just write in the comments space Your translations.

If You want to put this interview in Your sites or blogs ... of course, You can do it: please, just put the link to this 9b source, thanks !


Ciao from Italy !
:-)

P.s. photos from Mr. Petr Piechowicz, thank You Petr !

[Massimo Acerbis]

a new climbing location you would like to visit ?

[Massimo Acerbis]

any hobby/interest outside climbing ?

[Massimo Acerbis]

would you like to share with us the emotion of the first day you went to climb ?

[Massimo Acerbis]

dekuyeme

[Massimo Acerbis]

it is not important if you reply to my questions or not, what is important is that you keep on enjoying climbing !!

[9b]

I just put the numbers before Massimo's questions ...

30) do you think there are enough girls in the climbing community ?

31) during your climbing days do you spend time with people of your age ?

32) what climbers (present, past of future, famous or unknown) are of most inspiration to you ?

33) which are you favourite climbing places in Czech ?
anywhere to recommend ?

34) a new climbing location you would like to visit ?

35) any hobby/interest outside climbing ?

36) would you like to share with us the emotion of the first day you went to climb ?

[9b]

Adam on Weisse Rose, 9a/+:

[9b]

News from Shardrock :
Adam is climbing in Sardegna, Italy.
The past two days he was in Domusnovas (Cagliari), where he climbed:
- Oltretomba: "triki" 8c
- Marina second belay (first pitch "Nel futuro prossimo venturo", 8b+, plus second pitch): maybe 8c+
- War (new start): 8b.
Soon report with photos and video :-)

[9b]

[9b]

La perla de Brno domina la gravedad y sustenta el futuro.