Gripped Magazine
Adam Ondra Goes Ground-Up No-Chalk on a Saxony Sandstone 5.14b
Adam Ondra recently visited Saxony to sample some of the area’s historic sandstone climbing, including the test-piece route Die Vertreibung der letzten Idealisten (XIIa / 8c / 5.14b) ground‑up and without chalk. Ondra said after, “What started as doubt turned into one of the most meaningful climbing experiences I’ve had.”
Climbers are prohibited from using chalk and metal equipment (cams or nuts). Protection can only be slings tied into knots or ring-bolts drilled from a stance or a skyhook, which can’t be used less than three metres above the previous piece. Also, climbers can’t rehearse projects on top rope.
Ondra’s new film Saxon Sandstone Lines Were Calling Me takes viewers on a tour of local routes while offering rich historical insight. The sandstone towers rising above the Elbe River embody, as Ondra puts it, “150 years of bold climbing tradition, huge run-outs, and ground-up ethics.” In the film, Ondra also explores one of the area’s most challenging unclimbed routes, Circus Maximus, demonstrating his process as he works through it bolt by bolt.
German climber Robert Leistner made the first free ascent of the 55-metre Vertreibung der letzten Idealisten in 2019, 14 years after he bolted it with 11 ring bolts that he placed on lead. The bolts follow a line of sharp crimps and shallow pockets. It’s broken down into a 15-metre first pitch and a 40-metre 5.14b pitch.
Saxony Sandstone
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