Barbara Zangerl Sends Six-Pitch 5.14 in Austria
Barbara Zangerl just sent Sangre de Toro on Rote Wand in Lechquellengebirge of Austria, a six-pitch 5.14a.
The first ascent of the big route was by Gunther Winkel, Alex Luger, Robert Natter and Konrad Mathis ground up in 2012 and freed in 2014.
Zangerl’s partner Jacopo Larcher made the second ascent last year and it was then sent for a third time by Mark Ammann.
Zangerl is one of Europe’s top big wall free climbers with sends of Magic Mushroom, El Nino and Magic Mushroom on El Capitan.
On her website, she said she’s the first woman to send the Alpine Trilogy (which includes Kaisers neue Kleider 5.14, Silbergeier 5.14, End of Silence 5.14), Gondo Crack 5.14R trad, Muy Caliente E9/E10, Prinzip Hoffnung 5.13dR trad and Odyssee the hardest free climb on the Eiger.
“I got into climbing when my brother took me along climbing when I was 14 years old,” said Zangerl. “Back then I could hardly imagine that climbing on a natural surface could be so much better than what I did before. It was an incisive experience for me. I was just focused on bouldering for six years and travelled to the different bouldering areas around the world.”
In 2017, Zangerl and Larcher claimed the coveted second free ascent of Magic Mushroom 5.14a, one of El Cap’s hardest routes.
The below film documents their ascent. Magic Mushroom was first freed by Tommy Caldwell and Justen Sjong in May of 2008. Less than a month later, Caldwell came back to climb the route in a day.
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