Adam Ondra is a flash climbing enthusiast. That’s right, the 29-year-old loves to climb gigantic mountains without any practice or preparation. Ondra is credited with completing the world’s most difficult flash, a 5.15 (9a+) on his first try. Flash climbing is hard, and without preparation, one is bound to fail at times, which is what happened to Ondra as well, but he didn’t give up.

During flash climbing, one has to make in-the-moment decisions. The terrain is unfamiliar and all the nooks and crannies are unknown. This is probably why initially when Adam Ondra tries it, he was met with failure. But a legend’s mark is learning from their failures.

Adam Ondra failed twice at his Dream

Ondra loves to set almost unattainable goals for himself, and flash-climbing a 9a+ route was one such goal. A crazy goal like this is not achievable unless you make some mistakes, experience some failures, and then learn from them. Which is exactly what happened with Adam Ondra.

Before he achieved his insane goal of flashing a 9a+, Ondra tasted the bitterness of failure twice. In the year 2012, Adam Ondra tried flash climbing the Biographie (also known as Realization) route located in Ceuse, France. This flash was inspired by Chris Sharma, who had free-climbed the same route in 2001. While Ondra’s motivations during flashing Biographie were high, he, unfortunately, reached the hard crux of Biographie too pumped, and consequently fell off.

But Ondra was not disheartened by this failure. The fire was ignited within him, and he again tried to flash the Seleccion Anal route in Santa Linya, Spain. While he was extremely close to achieving his dream, Ondra, sadly, failed again. He said, “I got agonizingly close. There was a tiny mistake. I placed my foot like, a little bit lower than I should have. So I tried and I failed both times.”

Read more: “Mostly Fall Off of Projects”: Rock Climbing Legend Alex Honnold Once Cherished His ‘Occasional Moment of Glory’ After Numerous Failures

But the legend, learned from his mistakes and came back fighting.

Ondra Finally Made His Dream Come True

Supercrackinette, the hardest route in St. Leger, France, became Adam Ondra’s redemption. On February 10, 2018, Ondra went down in the annals of history to be the first climber to flash a 5.15. It’s an unbelievable achievement, to be able to climb a route that is hard only based on split-second decisions made on the basis of intuition.

Supercrackinette is a phenomenon in its own right. A short climb, but one that is grueling and demands endurance. But Ondra had already paid his dues twice before, and while flash climbing Supercrackinette, he was ready for what come may. Ondra’s staggering feat is a perfect example of what doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger.

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