“Completely Mind-Blowing”: Alex Honnold Was Left Baffled by Fellow Rock Climbing Star’s Crazy Abilities in 2021

Published 01/15/2023, 11:15 AM EST

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Rock climbing, when it comes to popularity, is pretty underrated. The sport itself has a ton of challenges, failing which will amount to unfortunate consequences. After all, there is no coming back if you fall off a cliff. Alex Honnold, who is one of the biggest names in rock climbing, is also too stunned to speak as he recalls his first meeting with a Czech rock climbing prodigy.

The Czech rock climber Adam Ondra and Alex Honnold had a session back in early 2021 wherein they talked about their first meet. Honnold describes how the prodigy left him speechless during a climbing session at a gym.

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Ondra’s works that made Alex Honnold speechless

Adam Ondra had a pretty unique way of training at a rock climbing gym, as per Alex Honnold. Past rock climbers that he has observed before are just not as brave as Ondra during a training session. One other thing that impressed the rock climbing icon was Ondra’s long-term plans of winning the Olympics.

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“Mostly I remember you like walked around and like touched random holes. And then like the first thing you climbed was like a 7C boulder or something and I was like what I couldn’t even pull off the starting holes and I was like you didn’t even warm up though everything about it to me was like completely mind-blowing. I was like I don’t even get it. It’s like is this what climbing is supposed to be?” Honnold talks about his first meeting experience with Ondra. 

Also Read | “I Nearly Died”: Oscar-Winning Actor Jared Leto Unearthed the Horrors of His Rock Climbing Experience With Alex Honnold in 2020

Honnold was taken aback by the Czech prodigy’s abilities, as he had never been able to do the same things as Ondra. The skill gap between these two is pretty huge, but still, Ondra’s emerging talent is just magnificent, as per the rock-climbing legend. Honnold shares how Ondra, without any practice, just climbed difficult levels easily at the gym.

God-given talent or just pure passion

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When asked whether Ondra always planned his climb and set his roots, Honnold was left surprised with his response. Ondra confirms that he never actually plans stuff before launching himself for a climbing session, but just goes with the flow of it. It was never about fulfilling a duty, as the Czech just enjoys the sport to its fullest.

Ondra’s thought processes are quite different from Honnold’s. Alex Honnold practices slow and perfect movements as he takes zero risks during rock climbing. Although Ondra doesn’t care about strategy, he goes with the flow and likes to take on risky challenges.

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What do you think of Adam Ondra taking risks while rock climbing? Let us know in the comment section.

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Written by:

Rahul Goutam Hoom

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Rahul Goutam Hoom is a US Sports writer for EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his Master's in Mass Communication and Journalism from Birla Global University. Rahul does photography and gaming during his leisure hours and likes to watch anime.
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Edited by:

Jahnabi Choudhury