Babsi Zangerl made history with her flash ascent of the big wall route Freerider (1000m, 7c+) on the legendary El Capitan. In this article, the top Austrian climber tells how she experienced her outstanding ascent.
Babsi Zangerl becomes the first climber in history to climb a route on El Capitan climbed free in the first attempt without a single fall – and was able to flash briefly. The Tyrolean has their commission from Freerider set a new standard in big wall climbing, reminiscent of Lynn Hill's remarkable first free ascent of the Nose in 1993.
This is what Babsi says about her flash ascent of Freerider
The first thing I have to say is that I was really, really lucky! There were hardly any other climbers on the route, the weather forecast looked bad, but in the end it held up, the conditions were actually very good and as we climbed up everything just seemed to fall into place.
Jacopo was really unlucky. He was so close to flashing the whole route! He tried to lead the boulder crux pitch before me, but didn't see the underhand grip properly and fell on the famous karate kick move. He then redpointed the pitch on his second attempt and had no further falls.
Thanks to Jacopo, I had more information about the crux and somehow managed to master the moves, although I still don't fully understand how I managed not to fall there.
Babsi Zangerl
Idea for flash experiment slowly matures
We didn't consciously save Freerider for a flash attempt, it just happened. In the past we've climbed routes in the center and on the right face of El Capitan, but never any of the left face routes like Golden Gate, Salathé and Freerider because we were always a little scared of the monster offwidth.
We heard so many horror stories about it that we always avoided that part of the wall. After our free ascent of the Nose in 2019, our friend and former Black Diamond employee Kolin Powick suggested that we try flashing freeriders. To be honest, we didn't think much about it, simply because the idea seemed too unrealistic.
When Lara Neumeier and I in November 2023 El Corazon climbed, we chose the Muir Blast start rather than the Freeblast start so as not to climb a pitch shared with Freerider. So I can say that at that point we already had the possibility in our minds to try it in the future. Still, the idea of a successful flash ascent seemed unrealistic.
This season, our goal was simply to see how far we could go. We might not go very far. That's the problem with El Capitan:
Even the pitches that look easy on paper are never easy! Actually, there is nothing easy about El Cap!
Babsi Zangerl
The crucial advice from Alex Honnold
After this Yosemite trip we Magic Line climbed we both realized that if we wanted to have a chance of climbing the monster offwidth, we would have to train specifically for it. So we spent 4 days just climbing offwidths like Generator Crack, Twilight Zone and others until we felt a little more comfortable with that style of climbing.
It was a real struggle! The monster offwidth pitch is 60 meters long and after about 40 meters I started to cramp and I ran out of breath! I thought I was going to fall but then I remembered the advice Alex Honnold gave us: when it gets tough, I should lean out as far as possible so that my left leg is well clamped and I can rest a bit.
Thank God we had met Alex Honnold by chance in a cafe a few days earlier and got this advice!
Babsi Zangerl
The pitch deal: Babsi leads Monster-Offwidth first, Jacopo Boulder-Crux
On day 1 we took turns leading and climbed the freeblast slabs past the Heart Ledges to the pitch below the Hollow Flake where we made our first bivouac. On day 2 we continued the ascent and climbed the monster offwidth to El Cap Spire, climbed two more pitches, secured the rope and returned to the Spire for the second bivouac.
On day 3 we jumared the two pitches we climbed the previous day, continued up to the Round Table, climbed and belayed another pitch before spending the third night on the wall. On day XNUMX we jumared the one pitch and climbed the final three pitches to the summit.
Our deal was that I would lead the monster offwidth first and Jacopo would lead the crux boulder pitch first, and we would take turns on all the other pitches. After the boulder pitch I felt nervous. I certainly didn't feel like it was all over, quite the opposite.
The first section of the Freeblast was already stressful, and now we were somehow on our way to the summit. But the infamous Enduro Corner was still ahead of us and proved to be really pumping. And we knew from experience that even the easy pitches can be really tough. We really had to fight to get to the top!
Freerider Flash Ascent: A Team Success
I consider this, like all the other climbs I've done with Jacopo, a successful team climb. Without him, nothing would have been possible and I'm eternally grateful that we managed it together.
Although we hadn't climbed any of the 30 pitches before and climbed many of them onsighted, we knew a lot about the route before we set out. We know a lot of climbers who have repeated the route before us and we tried to find out as much as we could and of course we watched some stuff on YouTube. We also went to the cinema to see Free Solo when the film came out, so we definitely can't call our climb onsighted.
When we reached the top it felt unreal. I was happy for myself and sad for Jacopo at the same time.
Babsi Zangerl
When you're onsighting or flash climbing you only get one chance and on a 1000m wall it can feel even more brutal. But Jacopo took it in his stride and his unwavering 100% support all the way to the top was crucial. It's a true testament to his character and as I said, I can't thank him enough.
It was certainly the biggest mental challenge I have ever faced in my climbing career.
That might interest you
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- Babsi Zangerl climbs the hardest trad line of her life: Meltdown (8c+)
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Credits: Cover picture Miya Tsudome for Highpoint Productions