A year ago the young top gun that is Adam Ondra blasted into The (Yorkshire) Dales and all but mopped-up. Well guess what – he’s back and straight down to work above the Malham Catwalk…

Of all the super hard routes that Ondra tried last year, Overshadow was the only route that withstood the onslaught. His (sport climbing) tick list from his few days in the UK was outstanding – simply the biggest and best that any visiting rock star visiting the UK had every achieved. My blog entry from the 8th May 2010 (http://blog.keithsharplesphotography.co.uk/blog/_archives/2010/5/8/4524247.html) summarised his week’s activities. Ondra said at the time that he thought Overshadow might tip the scales at F9b and, equally importantly, that he would be back for Overshadow in 2011. Some doubted he would return but clearly he’s proved the pundits wrong. “Would sir like hot or cold custard with that humble pie…”?

Last year he spent three days on McClure’s testpiece before switching his attention to the ‘easier’ of the McClure’s Yorkshire routes. Since then, as the well-informed will know, Ondra has been totally ripping up the rule book. Ondra’s onsights have risen to the dizzy heights of F8c+ with F8c/8b+ being virtual ‘quick ticks’. His redpointing has seen similar hikes as well; F9b now seems to less than a week’s work on Planet Ondra. So what’s he gonna make of Overshadow this time? I’m not sure what odds Ladbrooks would offer – but I doubt that they would be anything other than pretty short. Be interesting to take a look at Ondra return flight that might offer a clue as to what he thinks. Meanwhile it’s a case of what this space…

Steve McClure cranking it out high on Overshadow 'way' back in 2007…