From Gripped Magazine · Brandon Pullan · · 1m 20s
A 13-year-old just out-climbed Adam Ondra
Leo Cea sent a 5.15a in Spain at 13, taking a record Adam Ondra had held since 2008.
In brief
Leo Cea sent a 5.15a in Spain at 13, taking a record Adam Ondra had held since 2008. Cea did not copy the standard beta. He rebuilt the route around his own body and that is what got him up it. Originally reported by Gripped Magazine.
Thirteen and on 5.15
Leo Cea, a 13-year-old from Chile, climbed No Pain No Gain, a 5.15a at Rodellar in Spain. He is now the youngest person ever to send the grade.
Ondra's record falls
Adam Ondra set the mark in 2008 with La Rambla at 15 years old. Cea beat it by nearly two years.
Forty metres of roof
Cea found the line on a June trip and clicked with it right away. A massive roof covers more than half of the 40-metre climb.
The hard part came after
There is a major crux mid-roof, but Cea said the real fight was everything past it, pushing to the exit already fully pumped.
He built his own beta
The kneebars other climbers relied on did not work for him, so he solved the sequences with high heel hooks instead.
“I really liked that process of discovering my own way of climbing the route”
Already deep into 5.14
Cea climbed his first 5.14a at 10 and his first 5.14d at 11. Next he wants 5.14d in Frankenjura.
The bottom line
Cea did not copy the standard beta. He rebuilt the route around his own body and that is what got him up it.
