I think its fair to say that becoming the best climber in the world is harder these days than it used to be in the era of Ben, Jerry and Wofgang. Climbing and the number of people operating in the highest grades has taken a quantum leap. The sheer number of good climbers out there now operating in the 9's is staggering. The best redpointer is rarely the best onsighter. On paper Sharma is the king redpointer with two 9bs. Patxi holds the onsighting crown with two 8c+'s under his bed. However it is a 16 year old from the Czech Republic who has emerged as undeniably the worlds best. Climbing the hardest routes in every style and ridiculously quickly in most cases this young man is a phenomenon. Like the best climbers of the best he travels almost non stop seeking out the hard old school classics aswell as the modern pumpfests. Go to 8a.nu and check out his all-time ticklist, you will be impressed, and then remember that he is 16! Two 8c's and an 8b+ onsight in a day, 9a+ in eight goes. Truly shocking! A year or two ago Adam tried his hand at bouldering and had four days in Ticino, his ticklist put the best boulderers to shame. Dreamtime in 4 hours, Shadowfax in 30 minutes! and many other problems in the 8's. Whats next for the young buck, 9b is an obvious challenge, there are plenty more crags for him to get his teeth into, Buoux? what about Roughlings routes? Will his sense of history bring hime to Britain, Hubble? Big Bang? Mcclure routes? Time will tell!
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