Ondra Hand Jams His Way to Gold

This must have been designed from the start as trad climber clickbait, but what the hell I'll bite.

https://rockandice.com/climbing-news/ondra-hand-jams-his-way-to-gold-garnbret-tops-three-in-meiringen/

"The fourth boulder featured a series of volumes that formed a crack system for jamming the hands and feet before stabbing out to the bonus hold and then the top. All finalists except Ondra were completely stumped by the hand jam sequence. Only Chon could get through the sequence without hand jamming, opting for a dyno to the bonus hold instead, but he slipped before securing the finish. Ondra, who famously honed his crack climbing skills in Yosemite (earlier this year he nearly onsighted the Salathe Wall), flashed the boulder to earn his spot on top of the podium."

Here's the video:

​https://youtu.be/VytLGsGkNm0?t=732​​​

Century Crack.  That'll make him the best climber in the world.

"All finalists except Ondra were completely stumped by the hand jam sequence."

But.. but.. jamming doesnt make my biceps look swoll...

this is funny. Last year I was climbing at my gym and a national level youth competitor who trains there came over and asked me (nowhere near his ability or skill level) to teach him how to hand jam. He said, "Yeah, I mean, what if I show up at Nationals and they have a problem with hand jams?"

Smart kid.

I didn't know that they have 2 minutes to look at the problems before the round starts, then they go backstage. Why didn't they just google how to jam!?

TaylorP wrote: I didn't know that they have 2 minutes to look at the problems before the round starts, then they go backstage. Why didn't they just google how to jam!?

Because they aren't allowed to have phones in isolation.

I feel like whoever did the setting might have seen this.

David K wrote: I feel like whoever did the setting might have seen this.

Boy, she really does that the hard way. My kid is the same way. She'll face climb 5.12 to avoid a 5.6 hand crack. 

What I like best about the video is how happy Ondra is. It's like he saw the problem, read the words "Ondra Wins" on it, then had a great time cruising to victory. I watched parts of the whole competition video, and early on he had some tough going, so it must have been a big relief to see a problem that he knew he would be great at.

I kinda like that one comp not too long ago where Chris Sharma couldn't top any of the boulders.

Paul Hutton wrote: Century Crack.  That'll make him the best climber in the world.

I don't see how that would change anything. He clearly already is.

mike h wrote:

I don't see how that would change anything. He clearly already is.

By all means, feel free to stand in the corner that's reserved for people that don't care to witness that. I'll be over this-a-way. 

That problem looks...like 5.10.   I can climb 5.10 fingers into hands for 15 feet.  I could win the International bouldering championship can anyone confirm.  

Andy Novak wrote: That problem looks...like 5.10.   I can climb 5.10 fingers into hands for 15 feet.  I could win the International bouldering championship can anyone confirm.  

Confirmed. 

David K wrote: I feel like whoever did the setting might have seen this

it's not even really a crack, it's 1.5 jams. and what killed the climbers is not knowing to foot jam to stand up on it. i wonder if any of the climbers from 1-26 trad climber other than ondra. makes me almost think it was rigged. almost

For those watching the video: the hand jam problem starts around 1:30. Ondra's flash starts at 1:53:45.

Dante B. wrote: it's not even really a crack, it's 1.5 jams. and what killed the climbers is not knowing to foot jam to stand up on it. i wonder if any of the climbers from 1-26 trad climber other than ondra. makes me almost think it was rigged. almost

Yeah, it actually looks like the hand jam was so bomber that most of them got it even with poor jamming technique (I think one guy kind of ring locked it? Weird). But I don't think anybody except Ondra actually was foot jamming--it looks like they were all trying to smear against the right side of the "crack".

I don't think I'd call it "rigged" to expect guys who are supposedly the best climbers in the world to know how to jam. It's a basic climbing technique like any other, and while it's more frequent in trad climbing, it's not exclusive to trad.

I can not understand why hand jamming is such a mystery.