Young Wave - Part IX
The short history of rock climbing
This summary lacks only one star - Adam Ondra. This is an unquestionable oversight, but the justification may be based on the fact that, although he has done countless routes from the upper shelf level of difficulty, and additionally in a rapid and "wholesale" style, he still lacks one gem in his crown, which would permanently write him in the book of the history of climbing. Of course one can endlessly enumarate what he did during one day, weekend or week or how many routs over 9a he has on his account and what age he was when he send each one of them etc.
If, God forbid, Mr. Ondra gave up climbing and took up some more lucrative discipline how many of us would remember him after 10-20 years? Unfortunately, the history is brutal and it records on its pages only those who break the next barriers of impossible, as it is exemplified by this summary. This reminds me of a certain English master, a certain Jerry Moffat. At the time, he impressed the world with his easiness of the motion, that seemed almost efortless and thanks to which he had done the greatest extremes in all sorts of climbing categories - in sport climbing, trad, bouldering and competitions. But he lacked that cherry on top, although, if my memory serves me right, he sent the first 8b OS, probably in 1992 ;)
But returning to Ondra - time works to his advantage. With every year he’s getting better and he probably will achieve a lot, so there’s nothing to be touched over, as long as the history is not malicious and evil to him.
It is worth mentioning on that occasion that, after all Adam is at the very top of this new, young generation, which more and more ephasizes its presence and has begun to climb not at the teen age, but even before, which somehow distinguishes it from its predecessors. Still, kids like Charlotte Durif, Johanna Ernst, Geoffray de Flagergues, Enzo Oddo and others who have already managed to show themselves, will probably delimit the next horizons, to our delight. What we should wish them.
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