DiGiulian and Marin Send Big Wall Madagascar 5.14

Sasha DiGiulian and Edu Marin make second free ascent of Mora Mora, a 370-metre 5.14b. It climbs the left side of the Tsaranoro Massif the East African island of Madagascar.

The rock is streaked orange and black and rises near the village of Andonaka, which regularly houses climbers.

The hard 12-pitch route was established in 1999 and first freed nearly a decade ago by Adam Ondra.

We did it!! Mora Mora; 700m, 5.14(8c). So stoked to Free Climb this route with @edumarin1 – it had been a goal of mine for a few years and I am excited to have arrived at a point in my fitness that I could send my hardest big wall climb yet! We each sent every pitch from the ground up and both lead the Crux. Reach for your dreams ? LINK in my profile to Video clip ? @francoislebeau @redbull @redbulladventure #climbing #adventure #madagascar #moramora

A post shared by Sasha DiGiulian (@sashadigiulian) on Aug 9, 2017 at 9:13am PDT

“It took us a few days to unlock all the sequences [of the crux pitch] and our portaledge had been lost by the airline,” said DiGiulian.

“So each day we were hiking about 90 minutes up the mountain, jumaring 1,400 feet of static line, to then try the 5.14c, rappel down to the ground and hike out.”

DiGiulian and Marin had climbed other big walls in the past, including Bellavista 5.14b in the Italian Dolomites in 2013 and Viaje de los Locos 5.14a in Sardinia in 2014.