Sasha DiGiulian Sends 13-pitch 5.13 in Mexico

Sasha DiGiulian has made the third free ascent of Samadhi, a 13-pitch 5.13 in Mexico on the Shaman Wall in El Salto. It was first climbed by Jimmy Carse and Diegito Robin and first free by Alex Honnald and Chris Wiedner. The second free ascent went to Urs Moosmuller.

“Samadhu us a 13-pitch big wall that I onsighted and made the first female ascent of yesterday,” said DiGiulian. “The climb was full-on in my opinion and stacked with 5.12 and 5.13 climbing and is hyper-technical. Finding the line and navigating through loose rock was definitely a significant part of the battle.” DiGiulian was in Mexico on a sport climbing trip and said that they had to borrow some helmets and gear after “we got inspired to go for this big wall because it looked like a fun adventure.”

DiGiulian was supported by Molly Mitchell who said that Samadhi was her first big 5.13 climb. DiGiulian has been on a tour of Central and South America sending routes up to 5.14, visit her Instagram below for more photos by Juan Carlos Campos Taylor and others from her trip.

A post shared by S A S H A • D I G I U L I A N (@sashadigiulian) on Feb 17, 2019 at 1:00pm PST

My first big wall!!! We had no idea coming to El Salto that we would end up doing a big wall- we embarked on this trip to Mexico to go single pitch sport climbing. But when we saw this beautiful wall we both quickly jumped at the chance to climb it! It was our 3rd day on, but we were determined to give it a shot and try to do it in a day. This 13 pitch climb is called Samadhi, 5.13a. CONGRATS to @sashadigiulian for the first female ascent & third ascent overall!! It was one of the most badass things I’ve ever witnessed watching her onsight this entire thing. It was a stout route, we borrowed helmets and as much gear as we could and wore our sport climbing harnesses and shoes, and the rock was very loose in much of it. We pulled off some large rocks several times. The pitches were hard to read with minimal chalk, but watching Sasha fight for the onsight was incredibly inspiring. I did not do every pitch clean, but I was so psyched to have had my first true big wall experience – I even took a couple big lead falls, which is such a crazy feeling being runout up high. We ended up spending 14 hours on the wall total! It was such an honor to support Sasha on this epic adventure. What she achieved was truly hardcore. This has very much inspired me to do more big walls in the future!!!!! Glad to have jumped in, thanks to Sasha for being to patient with me and believing in me. @alexhonnold & @christopherweidner did the First Free Ascent & @urs.moosmuller achieved the 2nd (thanks for the topo!). Great work guys!!! And thank you @robyn_erbesfield_raboutou & @didieraboutou For the gear and ride to and from the base!! Photo by the amazing @campos_taylor. Film coming soooon!

A post shared by Molly Mitchell (@climberchica) on Feb 17, 2019 at 1:26pm PST