Ondra adds B je to! (F9b) Vranjača, Croatia's hardest route

• Sunday 1st October 2023

In his second short trip to Croatia, Adam Ondra has made the first ascent of B je to! (F9b), the country’s hardest route to date.

Writing on his Instagram page Adam reported that he’d made a second short trip back to Croatia between training to make the first ascent of B je to! Croatia’s first F9b. Earlier in the summer, Adam made his first trip to Croatia when he added A je to! (F9a/+). That route was named after his favourite cartoon character. Having made the FA of A je to!, Adam then worked a harder project to the right – that is now taken by B je to! - but ran out of time and had to leave.

Adam explains the two routes on Instagram saying; “A je to! is super power endurance route without super hard moves, whereas B je to! has a very hard crux that makes this route so hard ️ 2nd the day of this trip, after a very hard fight in the crux, and still very close calls on the upper part, I clipped the anchor of this project 👊Actually, I came up with this name (B je to means "it is b") even before I started trying. I was a little hesitant about whether it deserves the grade 9b or maybe a slash grade fits better (then the name doesn't make any sense), but considering good conditions, crux that fits my style and pretty good sensations of my body recently, I propose 9b. If it ever gets downgraded, we might have to find a different name! 😄

Remarkable, B je to! is Adam's 28th route between F9b and F9c, 21 of which have been first ascents.