Babsi Zangerl is First Female to Send The Path 5.14R
Austrian Barbara “Babsi” Zangerl has made the first female ascent of The Path 5.14R at Back of the Lake in the Canadian Rockies.
A few days before Zangerl, her partner Jacopo Larcher climbed it, these are the first two sends of the steep trad route since 2016.
The Path was first climbed by Sonnie Trotter and became a popular hard trad route after Trotter chopped the 1980’s bolts from the project before his send.
Doug McConnell, Tim Emmett, Read Macadam and Alex Megos climbed The Path in 2016, but there were no recorded ascents in 2017.
Other climbers who’ve sent it include Ethan Pringle, Matt Wilder, Peter Kamitses, Miles Adamson and Tommy Caldwell.
Zangerl, 30, is one of the world’s leading trad climbers with a number of big sends to her name, including three free climbs on El Cap: Zodiac VI 5.13, Magic Mushroom VI 5.14 and El Nino VI 5.13.
She also made the first female ascent of the the Alpine Trilogy in the Alps: Kaisers neue Kleider 5.14, Silbergeier 5.14 and End of Silence 5.14.
For trad routes, she’s made the first female ascents of Prinzip Hoffnung 5.13dR and Achemine 5.13+R.
Her hardest route to date is Speed Integrale 5.14d, which she sent earlier this year.
“Whenever I manage something that is at my personal limit, it’s an incredible feeling that encourages me to carry on and to explore new boundaries,” said Zangerl.
A few weeks ago, Zangerl also sent The Shadow 5.13 in Squamish.
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