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The Nugget Climbing Podcast

EP 263: Adam Ondra — A Conversation With the Best Climber in the World

Mar 10, 2025
01:51:36

Adam Ondra is the greatest climber of all time. We talked about his trip to Smith Rock in 2018, onsighting Just Do It, what he was like as a kid, his 9c projects, Soudain Seul 9A, the Imhotep project, how he trains for long boulders vs routes, the Olympics, The Dawn Wall, climbing ethics, the monster within, why he thinks he can push his level for 7 more years, and much more.

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Show Notes:  

thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/adam-ondra

Nuggets:

(00:00:00) – Intro

(00:00:34) – Onsighting ‘Just Do It’

(00:05:13) – Rock Stars

(00:07:26) – Adam as a kid

(00:15:14) – Unfinished business

(00:18:49) – Unclimbed 9c projects

(00:23:50) – Untapped potential

(00:27:25) – Soudain Seul & other 9As

(00:31:17) – The Imhotep project

(00:39:55) – Training for long boulders

(00:43:43) – Training for sport climbing

(00:46:19) – Golpe de Estado

(00:48:40) – Patxi training

(00:51:07) – Modern comp routes

(00:54:29) – Feelings about comps

(00:58:32) – Weight for lead comps

(01:05:41) – The Olympics

(01:07:40) – Speed climbing

(01:09:45) – The Dawn Wall

(01:21:02) – Adam’s ethics

(01:25:54) – Projects in Yosemite & Smith Rock

(01:28:30) – Satisfaction with his career

(01:32:50) – The monster within

(01:36:48) – 7 more years & endless routes

(01:38:50) – 8a at 80

(01:40:23) – How climbing grades scale

(01:41:59) – Finger size

(01:45:09) – Hugo

(01:46:44) – Letting kids do risky things

(01:48:15) – What’s next

(01:49:21) – Wrap up

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