Ondra on the Dawn Wall

Did Ondra's dad go, or have to stay behind? In a way, that's the best part of this story. Probably cause I climb with my son!

Helen

They finished up Pitch 17. Any one know why he didn't attempt the Dino pitch and opted for the "easier" loop pitch?

Lou Cerutti wrote:They finished up Pitch 17. Any one know why he didn't attempt the Dino pitch and opted for the "easier" loop pitch?

Don't know for sure but probably time needed to work the dyno. Ondra may have posted earlier that it seemed low probability as compared to the loop IIRC.

Lou Cerutti wrote:They finished up Pitch 17. Any one know why he didn't attempt the Dino pitch and opted for the "easier" loop pitch?

The dyno is extremely low-percentage. Remember that Tommy gave up on it and created the Loop Pitch to avoid it during his final push. Kevin will still be the only one to climb the route that way.

A recent (Nov. 18) writeup in the sports section of the NY Times titled
"Adam Ondra Expected a Short, Hard Climb. Now He’ll Be Happy Just to Finish":

nytimes.com/2016/11/19/spor…

Some nice photos and topo graphic, along with a well-written writeup.

Hmm I had some issues with that write up. It refers to Ondra as a "champion speed climber" and seems to conflate big wall speed records with comp-style "speed climbing." Really, the fact that Ondra is completing the DW quickly has nothing to do with how fast he is climbing; rather, with how quickly he is sending and how few burns he is requiring per pitch.

If I calculated correctly he is now at pitch 21.

"
Ondra:
"Made it to the Wino tower tonight! Deep satisfaction, peace and fire at the same time in my heart and soul. Perfect conditions today and perfect focus. That means only 11 "easy" (5.10 - 5.12) pitches left. We would have continued, but looks like it will rain soon. Which means forced restday tomorrow and hopefully finishing it off on Monday.

And to go back a bit, here is a more detailed report about the day of sending pitch 14 + 15:

“Day 5. As day 4 was a complete disaster, I still felt a lot of pressure, as I knew that sending pitch 14 is almost a must. But today, my mindset was different. I tried to make jokes, being relaxed and focused only just before the climbing. I was lucky enough to be precise and send pitch 14 (5.14d) on my first go after a little warm up.
“Pitch 15 (5.14c or d) was next. This pitch is much longer and has a very nice and enjoyable 5.13c intro (with a few normal holds and even footholds) and a heinously sharp boulder problem at the end of the pitch. After chalking up the holds, I had a heartbreaking fall, a few moves below the jug of glory... and I had to face a hard decision. Should I give it one more try and try risk cutting my skin open or wait for tomorrow? It was rather unsure whether my skin would be better the next day. I took the first option. I started climbing again and despite feeling strong, my skin was really soft and sweaty. On the jug below the boulder problem, I almost thought my decision was wrong. I kept going nevertheless and somehow made it through the crux, where I had to improvise with my beta, as I was unable to reach with my foot all the way due to my sliding fingers from the razorblades. Getting to the anchor was emotional of course.
“Let's continue tomorrow. Still quite a few exciting pitches, but none of them are as sharp and hard as these two.”

Wow...that's awesome. Thanks for posting up, Kees. Any video of Adam in action?

Ted Pinson wrote:Hmm I had some issues with that write up. It refers to Ondra as a "champion speed climber" and seems to conflate big wall speed records with comp-style "speed climbing." Really, the fact that Ondra is completing the DW quickly has nothing to do with how fast he is climbing; rather, with how quickly he is sending and how few burns he is requiring per pitch.

Maybe you're thinking of a different newspaper?
This one doesn't use that term, and seems to describe climbing quite accurately. No indication that they changed the story either.

Interesting...I think they must have edited it. I read that same article yesterday when MP posted it to facebook and it called him a "world renowned speed climber." Maybe somebody corrected them?

Anyone have an idea about what the weather is going to do? It seems mighty cold up there, even with some snow. I have no idea if that will influence the climb to the top negatively?

Probably, but It's all 10-11 territory. I don't think that'll stop Ondra.

Ted Pinson wrote:Probably, but It's all 10-11 territory. I don't think that'll stop Ondra.

Except for the 3 12b pitches, the 12d pitch and the 13a pitch. I agree it probably won't stop him, but it's not just pitches of 10 and 11.

Kees wrote:Anyone have an idea about what the weather is going to do? It seems mighty cold up there, even with some snow. I have no idea if that will influence the climb to the top negatively?

Um,NOAA point weather forecast?
forecast.weather.gov/MapCli…;lat=37.74050304853188#.WDFeJrIrLcs

Sunday: Snow showers. High near 35. East southeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming light in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible.
Sunday Night: Snow showers, mainly before 4am. Low around 30. Calm wind. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New snow accumulation of 2 to 4 inches possible.
Monday: A 30 percent chance of snow showers, mainly before 10am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 32. Calm wind becoming northwest around 5 mph in the morning.
Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 30. North northwest wind around 5 mph.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 39. Calm wind becoming southwest around 5 mph in the morning.
Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 34. South wind around 5 mph.
Wednesday: A 50 percent chance of snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 35. South wind 5 to 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 32. North wind around 5 mph becoming east northeast in the evening.
Thanksgiving Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 38. Calm wind becoming south southwest around 5 mph.
Thursday Night: A chance of rain and snow showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 24. South wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Ok. Doesn't look so bad for monday en tuesday.

I love this. It shows clearly how great man is !

It's really cool that he's up there doing this.

Marc801 wrote: Except for the 3 12b pitches, the 12d pitch and the 13a pitch. I agree it probably won't stop him, but it's not just pitches of 10 and 11.

Oh, you're right - it was 10-12 ("easy" to Ondra) in the update above. Are you sure there's a 13 coming up? Adam doesn't seem to know that. :/

Ted Pinson wrote:Interesting...I think they must have edited it. I read that same article yesterday when MP posted it to facebook and it called him a "world renowned speed climber." Maybe somebody corrected them?

MP linked a article from The Independent not The NY Times.