Adam Ondra at Arco, climbing slabs of the past and future

Adam Ondra recently moved to the Arco area in Italy with his young family and, of course, he couldn't resist climbing some classic testpieces from the past and trying futuristic projects.

At Spiaggia delle Lucertole he meets Heinz Mariacher, one of the undisputed pioneers of the early days of sport climbing, then at Passo Due Sassi he completes a project started by another Arco legend, Loris Manzana. The result is called Niobe, the grade suggested is 9a, and the route is , according to the Czech climber, is "definitely one of the best slab climbs I have ever done."

And then there's also a new slab project, described by Ondra as "out of this world." But that's another story.