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Babsi Zangerl Sends Greenspit 5.14 Trad in Italy

She's one of the world's most accomplished trad and bigwall free climbers

Top climber Babsi Zangerl, 32, has just sent Greenspit, the famous 5.14 roof crack in Valle dell’Orco, Italy. It’s one of the most difficult trad climbs in Europe. She placed all of her gear on lead.

The crack was bolted in the 1980s, but chopped and led by Swiss crusher Didier Berthod in 2003. Berthod moved to Canada shortly after and projected Cobra Crack with Sonnie Trotter. Berthod then quit climbing and moved to a Swiss catholic monestary.

In 2009, Stevie Haston made the fourth ascent and told UK Climbing: “I’d say it’s like a 5.12 crack to a V8 move. A bit on the powerful side, but nothing really that tricky. In English if you like, bottom end E6 crack to a 6c sequence.” The second ascent was by Nico Favresse and third by Tom Randall. All said it was a soft 5.14a or hard 5.13d.

Zangerl is no stranger to hard trad, she made the first female ascent of The Path 5.14R at Back of the Lake in the Canadian Rockies. In 2017, she made the second ascent of Gondo Crack 5.13d and in 2014 she climbed Prinzip Hoffnung 5.13d.

Zangerl’s partner, Jacopo Larcher, is currently projecting Greenspit. In 2019, Larcher sent a long-term project and called it Tribe, saying it was one of his hardest climbs to date. He never graded the trad route, but many assume it to be the world’s first 5.14d trad climb.

In 2016, Fred Moix climbed Greenspit; he belayed Berthod on the route’s first ascent. Watch a short film about his climb below and read about it here.

Fred Moix on Greenspit

 

 

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