Adam Ondra flashes Lexicon E11 - why does he keep doing this to himself?

Adam Ondra has done what the Germans couldn’t – conquered England. He has recently
jumped on a plane to the Lake District and done the climbing equivalent of a Fortnite emote
by flashing one of the hardest climbs in the country. Yes, that’s right, he flashed it.
Ondra is undoubtably one of the best climbers ever in terms of his raw skill and strength.
Speculation is mounting that his growing tick list of hard climbs is all in preparation of
something much greater. What that is we don’t know. But we should probably all be scared.
Ondra has blown all other climbers out of the water not just with ability, but with his
breadth. He ticks 9a boulders before breakfast, comes back for some cornflakes and then
consults UKC to find which E11 he should spend the afternoon trying. Even though he
perhaps became most famous for his sport climbing after his ascent of Silence, this clearly
wasn’t enough to strike fear into his heart. Indeed his ascent of Lexicon is the first time I
have ever heard him say that he is scared. I don’t blame him though, I think I would be too.
Although I don’t want to detract from Ondra’s achievements, it does seem that we have
reached the upper bound of safety in climbing. We are at a point where anything harder or
more dangerous could seriously result in death, and this is not a position that anyone should
be in. More specifically, it is not a position that any professional athlete should feel forced
to put themselves in to stay relevant. Neil Gresham has said of Lexicon that a fall from the
top would be a complete gamble with regards to hitting the ground, and unless trampolines
become a legitimate form of protection, this would look to have dire consequences from
that height. We can see just how risky the route is in the clip of Dave MacLeod gaining some
airmiles on the route. Whilst it is easy to say watching on video that Dave has a good two
meters to the ground, the margins of belaying and rope stretch are such that this is not a
very big bumper at all. To see all this and want to flash the route is a unique form of
madness that could only be incubated in the mind of Adam Ondra.
What adds to Ondra’s uniqueness is his focus on climbing ethics. His flash saw him examine
the crux sequence whilst Neil Gresham demonstrated where to go, and then he repelled
down the rest “looking to the right and ignoring the view towards the holds of Lexicon 1 ” in
order not to gain any unfair advantage and detract from a potential flash. This level of
commitment is something that most climbers wouldn’t even consider putting into an
attempt. Whilst it may seem unnecessary, one must appreciate the respect that he very
clearly has for the sport and for the history of British climbing specifically. Even in a position
of power where he could probably get away with breaking rules or setting new ones, Ondra
is a purist through and through.

So Ondra now has a 9a sport route, a 9a boulder, an E12 trad route and a flash on an E11. If
he doesn’t have a heart attack on his next project due to sheer trepidation, it is sure to be
something that won’t get repeated easily.

1 https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ1mrRIM6cQ/?hl=en&img_index=1