Adam Ondra, the accomplished 15-year-old Czech sport climber, made the first redpoint ascent of Beat Kammerlander’s WoGu (5.14, 7 pitches, 230m), Ratikon Mountains, Switzerland. Last summer he redpointed another Kammerlander testpiece in the same area, Silbergeier (8b+ [5.14a], 6 pitches), and Ondra’s recent ascent, on July 26, 2008, follows an impressive winter of 5.14d and 5.15a single-pitch sends across Europe. [Photo] Phil Maurel / www.nice-climb.com
On July 26, 2008, 15-year-old Czech climber Adam Ondra redpointed WoGu (5.14, 7 pitches, 230m) in Switzerland. The limestone route is located on the seventh Kirchlispitze in the Ratikon Mountains. Named for German climber Wolfgang Gullich, WoGu was put up by Austrian climber Beat Kammerlander and partners in 1997. Kammerlander, however, never redpointed the full line.
According to climbing.com, “Like other Kammerlander routes in the Ratikon, WoGu was established ground-up, and the compact rock left few stances for drilling protection bolts, even when hanging from hooks. Consequently, WoGu has serious run-outs, with potential for 20-meter falls, and passages of mandatory free climbing up to 5.13c.”
Ondra’s father said: “According to Beat there are two pitches of 8c (5.14b), one of 8b+ (5.14a), one 8b (5.13d), one 8a+ (5.13c), and two of 7c+ (5.13a). Adam suggests small changes of classification, somewhere up, somewhere down, but in global it matches. For the more precise description let’s wait for Adam’s return on the end of the week.”
In the summer of 2007, Ondra climbed another of Kammerlander’s multipitch routes in the Ratikons, Silbergeier (8b+ [5.14a], 6 pitches). The young Ondra, however, is best known for his successes on the world’s most difficult sport climbs, which include La Rambla (5.15a), La Novena Enmienda (5.15a) and Action Directe (5.14d), among numerous other hard 5.14s.