Climbing Couple Send 16-Pitch 5.13d in Yosemite
A film featuring the third free ascent of Zodiac Wall was just released by Louder Than Eleven
In fall 2016, Barbara Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher made the third free ascent of Zodiac Wall after a five-day push with both climbers leading all pitches harder than 5.12+. It had previously been free by the teams of Alex and Thomas Huber, and Tommy Caldwell and Beth Rodden, all in 2003.
After ther ascent, Zangerl said, “This was one of these days I never will forget! We invested nearly all the time we had here in Yosemite and finally all the hard work paid off. Both of us freed every single pitch and we both led all of the 5.12+ up to 5.13d pitches. Every single pitch was amazing and we had a lot of fun up there the last five days.” In 2015, Zangerl and Larcher fred El Nino VI 5.13c A0 up El Capitan.
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. In 2021, she became the first woman to send Greenspit 5.14a trad. Larcher is also one of the world’s most successful trad climbers, last fall he made the third ascent of Meltdown 5.14c in Yosemite.
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