Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Born | Tyrol, Austria | 24 May 1988|||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Professional rock climber Medical radiographer | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 162 cm (5 ft 4 in) [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 54 kg (119 lb) [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | barbara-zangerl | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Climbing career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Type of climber | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ape index | -2cm (-0.78 in) [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Highest grade | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Known for |
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First ascents |
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Medal record
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Updated on 5 April 2024 |
Barbara Zangerl (born 24 May 1988) is an Austrian rock climber who is widely considered as one of the best all-round female climbers in the world. At various stages in her career, she has climbed at, or just below, the highest climbing grades achieved by a female in every major rock climbing discipline, including bouldering, traditional climbing, sport climbing, multi-pitch climbing and big wall climbing. [1] [3]
She was the first-ever female to solve an 8A+/8B (V12/13) graded bouldering route with Pura Vida in 2008, and has repeated some of the hardest traditional climbing routes in the world, including Meltdown in 2023, which at 8c+ (5.14c) is still the hardest traditional climbing grade by a female climber. Zangerl has redpointed sport climbs to grade 9a (5.14d) such as Speed Integrale in 2018, and Sprengstoff in 2021.
Zangerl has made the first female free ascent (FFFA) of several major multi-pitch and big wall climbing routes including the Alpine Trilogy in 2013, three major routes on El Capitan (El Nino in 2015, Zodiac in 2015, and Magic Mushroom in 2016), the Eiger's hardest route, Odyssee, in 2018, and one of the hardest high-altitude big wall routes, Eternal Flame on the Nameless Tower in Pakistan, in 2022.
Zangerl became the first person in history to successfully flash a route on El Capitan (Freerider in 2024). [4]
In 2019, she was named as the National Geographic 'Adventurer of the Year'. She is also known for her climbing partnership with Italian rock climber Jacopo Larcher. [1] [3]
Zangerl was born and raised in the small village of Strengen in the Austrian Tyrol. Her parents would regularly bring their five children hiking and skiing in the surrounding mountains. When she was 14 years old, her brother brought her and her 16-year-old sister Claudia to the climbing gym in the neighboring village of Flirsch am Arlberg, where she became hooked on the sport. Austrian climber Bernd Zangerl –no relation—introduced the girls to climbing on natural rock, and to bouldering in particular. [1]
Focusing initially on bouldering, in 2005, Zangerl solved her first 8A (V11) graded problem with her ascent of X-Ray in Silvretta in Austria. In 2008, aged only 19, she solved Pura Vida in Switzerland's Magic Wood. At the time, the highest bouldering grade solved by a female climber was 8A+ (V12), and Pura Vida was considered at least 8A+/B and possibly 8B. While the first-ever full 8B (V13) graded boulder to be solved by a female is regarded as Angie Payne's 2010 ascent of Automator, Zangerl's 2008 ascent of Pura Vida is regarded as being the hardest boulder solved by a female climber at that time. [1]
Zangerl largely avoided the full competition bouldering circuit but did enter the annual international bouldering competition of Melloblocco, which she won four times in 2006, 2008, 2011, and 2013. After suffering a herniated L5-S1 disk in her lower back in 2009, she was forced to largely abandon bouldering for a few years and focus on types of climbing that created fewer direct strains on her back. [1] [3]
After retiring from bouldering and taking time off in 2009 to allow her back to recover, Zangerl began to focus on easier sport climbing routes. [3] While single pitch sport climbing never became a core focus for Zangerl, by 2018 she was climbing at the grade of 9a (5.14d) when the highest achieved female sport climbing grade was just two notches higher at 9b (5.15b). [5] Zangerl made the first female free ascent (FFFA) of several notable sport routes including Speed Integrale (9a, 2018), [5] Everything is Karate (8c+/9a, 2019), [6] and Sprengstoff (9a, 2021). [7] Zangerl has the first free ascent (FFA) of her own single-pitch routes including Gondo Crack 8c (5.14b) in 2017 (which she "greenpointed" as a traditional route). [8]
Zangerl's first traditional climbing route was Super Krill 5.13b (8a) in 2012. [1] By 2014, she had made the FFFA of Beat Kammerlander 's Prinzip Hoffnung at 5.14 R 8b/+ E9/E10, which was one of the hardest traditional routes at the time. [9] Over the next few years, Zangerl made the FFFA of several notable traditional testpieces including Dave MacLeod's Achemine E9 6c 8b (2016), [10] Sonnie Trotter's The Path 5.14a (8b+) R (2018), [11] and Didier Berthod's Greenspit 5.14a (8b+) R (2020). [12] In 2023, she made the fourth-ever ascent of Beth Rodden's Meltdown in Yosemite, which at 8c+ (5.14c) was still the hardest traditional grade achieved by a female, and one notch behind the hardest traditional grade of 9a (5.14d). [13] [14]
It is in big wall climbing–in both traditional and sport climbing formats–that Zangerl focused much of her time, and often with climbing and life partner, Jacopo Larcher. While they will swap the easier leads on big wall routes, they will both individually lead all of the hard pitches. [3] [2]
In 2013, Zangerl became the first-ever female, [3] and only the fourth-ever person, [3] to complete the Alpine Trilogy of extreme multi-pitch sport climbing alpine routes, that include Des Kaisers neue Kleider 8b+ (5.14a) (2013), Silbergeier 8b+ (5.14a) (2013), and The End of Silence (2012). [15] In 2015, Zangerl followed it up with the second-ever female ascent of Alexander Huber's Bellavista 8b+ (5.14a), [16] and the joint-FFFA, with Nina Caprez , of Beat Kammerlander's Die Unendliche Geschichte (The Neverending Story) 5.14a (8b+). [17]
From 2015, Zangerl, climbing with partner Larcher, made the FFFA of several major big wall routes on El Capitan including El Nino 5.13c (8a+) (2015), [18] [19] Zodiac 5.13d (8b) (2016), [20] [21] and Magic Mushroom 5.14a (8b+) (2017). [22] At the time of their ascent, Magic Mushroom was El Capitan's hardest route after The Dawn Wall , and their ascent was the first repeat of the route after Tommy Caldwell had made the FFA in 2008. [3] [22]
In 2018, Zangerl and Larcher moved into big wall alpine climbing routes making the first repeat of the Eiger's hardest route, Odyssee at 5.13c (8a+). [23] In 2020, they returned to make the first one-day ascent of the route, taking under 16 hours. [23] In 2022, the pair ventured into high-altitude big-wall climbing on the Trango Towers, when they made only the third free ascent, and Zangerl the FFFA, of the historic high-altitude big wall route, Eternal Flame 7c+ (5.13a), on the Nameless Tower in Pakistan, where the crux is at over 6,000 metres (20,000 ft). [24] [25]
As a result of her achievements across the rock climbing disciplines of bouldering, traditional climbing, sport climbing, multi-pitch climbing and big wall climbing, Zangerl is widely considered one of the world's strongest "all-round" female climbers. [1] [3] She is noted for climbing at, or just below, the highest climbing grades being achieved by female rock climbers in each discipline, at various stages in her career. [26]
In 2019, National Geographic said: "Zangerl is Austrian, extremely humble, and carries an air of the girl-next-door. Her low-key nature, however, belies her reputation among her peers as the best all-around female climber in the world". [3] Czech climber Adam Ondra said of Zangerl: "It is extremely difficult to find climbers who are achieving in so many different disciplines, and among female climbers it is even more rare," and "Babsi is definitely one of the best all-around female climbers, if not the very best". [3] American climber Alex Honnold said: "I can't really think of any other women climbing at such a high level in so many different disciplines," and "She's such an unassuming 'world’s best.' She's so mellow that it's hard to think of her as 'the best,' which is a good thing". [3] In 2021, PlanetMountain called her "One of the great all-round climbers of our time". [2] In 2022, Climbing said of her "The Austrian Barbara “Babsi” Zangerl has ticked V13, 5.14d sport, 5.14 trad, the Alpine Trilogy of 5.14-, multi-pitch, high-altitude free climbs, and some of the hardest free routes on El Capitan, making her one of the best, most versatile climbers in the world". [1]
For much of her professional climbing career, Zangerl has also held a part-time job as an assistant medical radiographer in a hospital in Bludenz in Austria. She began her studies as a radiographer while convalescing from her back injury in 2009. [1] [2] [3]
Since 2013, Zangerl has been in a relationship with Italian climber Jacopo Larcher, and the pair have been regular climbing partners since then. [3] [2] In 2019, Zangerl told National Geographic about her relationship with Larcher: "We're a good team," and "It's easy for us to handle stress on the wall because there's always something to do. At home, though, it's a little different," she says with a laugh". [3]
Traditional climbing is a type of free climbing in rock climbing where the lead climber places the protection equipment while ascending the route; when the lead climber has completed the route, the second climber then removes the protection equipment while climbing the route. Traditional climbing differs from sport climbing where the protection equipment is pre-drilled into the rock in the form of bolts.
Alexander Huber is a German rock climber who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of rock climbing. Huber came to prominence in the early 1990s as the world's strongest sport climber after the passing of Wolfgang Güllich. He is the second-ever person to redpoint a 9a (5.14d) graded route by ascending Om in 1992, and has come to be known as the first-ever person to redpoint a 9a+ (5.15a) graded route from his 1996 ascent of Open Air.
David Ethan Graham is an American professional rock climber. Professing to enjoy bouldering the most, he is one of the elite sport climbers and boulderers of his generation. Graham repeats classic routes or boulder problems as well as performing cutting-edge first ascents. He is known for climbing in 2005 an 8C (V15) graded boulder problem called The Story of Two Worlds, in Cresciano, Switzerland). He is also known for his stance against grade inflation and for his strong anti-chipping ethic. He writes an ongoing blog for the website of Climbing Magazine.
Fred Rouhling is a French rock climber and boulderer, noted for creating and repeating some of the earliest grade 9a (5.14d) sport climbing routes in the world, including Hugh in 1993, the first-ever French 9a (5.14d) sport route. Rouhling is also known for the controversy from his proposed grading of 9b (5.15b) for his 1995 route Akira, which would have made it the world's first-ever 9b-graded sport route; 25 years later, it was graded at 9a (5.14d).
Steve McClure is a British rock climber and climbing author, who is widely regarded as Britain's leading and most important sport climber for a period that extends for over two decades, starting from the late 1990s. In 2017, he created Rainman, Britain's first-ever 9b (5.15b) sport route, and by that stage was responsible for developing the majority of routes graded 9a (5.14d) and above in Britain. Although mainly known for sport climbing, McClure has also been one of the most successful British traditional climbers, and British onsight climbers.
Wolfgang Güllich was a German rock climber, who is considered one of the greatest and most influential climbers in the history of the sport. Güllich dominated sport climbing after his 1984 ascent of Kanal im Rücken, the world's first-ever redpoint of an 8b (5.13d) route. He continued to set more "new hardest grade" breakthroughs than any other climber in sport climbing history, with Punks in the Gym in 1985, the world's first-ever 8b+ (5.14a), Wallstreet in 1987, the world's first-ever 8c (5.14b), and with Action Directe in 1991, the world's first-ever 9a (5.14d).
Josune Bereziartu, also known as Josune Bereciartu Urruzola, is a Basque rock climber. For a decade starting in the late 1990s, she was considered the strongest female sport climber in the world and is regarded as one of the most important female rock climbers in history.
Jerry Moffatt, is a British rock climber and climbing author who is widely considered as being the best British rock climber from the early-1980s to the early-1990s, and was arguably the best rock climber in the world in the mid-1980s, and an important climber in the history of the sport.
In the history of rock climbing, the three main sub-disciplines – bouldering, single-pitch climbing, and big wall climbing – can trace their origins to late 19th-century Europe. Bouldering started in Fontainebleau, and was advanced by Pierre Allain in the 1930s, and John Gill in the 1950s. Big wall climbing started in the Dolomites, and was spread across the Alps in the 1930s by climbers such as Emilio Comici and Riccardo Cassin, and in the 1950s by Walter Bonatti, before reaching Yosemite where it was led in the 1950s to 1970s by climbers such as Royal Robbins. Single-pitch climbing started pre-1900 in both the Lake District and in Saxony, and by the late-1970s had spread widely with climbers such as Ron Fawcett (Britain), Bernd Arnold (Germany), Patrick Berhault (France), Ron Kauk and John Bachar (USA).
Beth Rodden is an American rock climber known for her ascents of hard single-pitch traditional climbing routes. She was the youngest woman to climb 5.14a (8b+) and is one of the only women in the world to have redpointed a 5.14c (8c+) traditional climbing graded climb. Rodden and fellow climber Tommy Caldwell were partners from 2000 to 2010, during which time they completed the second free ascent of The Nose. In 2008, Rodden made the first ascent of Meltdown, one of the hardest traditional climbs in the world and the first time in history that a female climber matched the peak of the highest climbing grades.
Adam Ondra is a Czech professional rock climber, specializing in lead climbing, bouldering, and competition climbing. In 2013, Rock & Ice described Ondra as a prodigy and the leading climber of his generation. Ondra is the only male athlete to have won World Championship titles in both disciplines in the same year (2014) and is one of the two male athletes to have won the World Cup series in both disciplines.
Prinzip Hoffnung, is a 40-metre (130 ft) long traditional climbing route on a thin crack up a conglomerate rock slab on the "Bürs plate cliff" overlooking the village of Bürs in Vorarlberg, Austria. The route was greenpointed by Austrian climber Beat Kammerlander in 2009, and was one of the earliest traditional climbing routes to be graded at 5.14 R (American), 8b/+ (French), X/X+ (UIAA), or E9-E10 (British); it is still considered one of the hardest traditional climbing routes in the world.
Sasha DiGiulian is an American professional rock climber who specializes in outdoor sport and big wall climbing with a background in competition climbing and bouldering. She won the gold medal at the 2011 International Federation of Sport Climbing World Championships in Arco, Italy, for Female Overall, placed gold in Bouldering and Bronze in Duel. Sasha won multi-year PanAmerican championships and is a three-time US National Champion.
In rock climbing, a crack climb is a type of climbing route that follows a system of crack(s) or fissure(s) that the climber uses to ascend the route. The width of the crack dictates the techniques needed, and crack-climbs are further differentiated by the body parts that can be 'jammed' into them, such as finger cracks, hand/fist cracks, arm cracks, and body cracks. Off-width cracks are some of the most awkward, being too wide for the hands or arms, but too narrow to accommodate the body. The rarer top-to-bottom uniform-width crack is called a splitter crack.
Anak Verhoeven is a Belgian rock climber who specializes in sport climbing and in competition lead climbing. She has repeatedly won the Belgian National Championship in lead climbing. In 2016, she ranked first on the IFSC World Ranking List. In 2017, she won both the World Games and IFSC Climbing European Championships. Verhoeven is also one of the strongest female sport climbers, and in 2017, became the first-ever woman in history to establish a new 9a+ (5.15a) route, Sweet Neuf.
Maurizio "Manolo" Zanolla is an Italian rock climber and mountaineer, and a pioneer of sport climbing in Italy during the 1980s and 1990s.
Pete Whittaker is a British professional rock climber. He is one half of the duo known as the Wide Boyz, along with his climbing partner Tom Randall. Whittaker came to notability from crack climbing, including the first ascent of the world's hardest off-width climb, the Century Crack.
Dreamtime is a 10-metre (33-foot) long bouldering route, on the boulder of the same name, in the gneiss bouldering area of Cresciano, Switzerland. When first solved in October 2000 by Swiss bouldering pioneer Fred Nicole, it was graded at 8C (V15), making it the world's first-ever boulder route at that grade. With subsequent repeat ascents, it was regraded to 8B+ (V14), but after the breaking of a key hold in 2009, its grade is now considered closer to 8C (V15) again. Dreamtime is one of the most notable bouldering routes in rock climbing history, along with the Yosemite boulder Midnight Lightning, and is renowned for both its beauty and its challenge.
Rhapsody is a 35-metre (115 ft) long traditional climbing route up a thin crack on a slightly overhanging vertical basalt rock face on Dumbarton Rock, in Scotland. When Scottish climber Dave MacLeod made the first free ascent in 2006, it became Britain's first-ever E11-graded route, and at the grade of 5.14c (8c+), Rhapsody was the world's hardest traditional route. It set a grade milestone in traditional climbing that stood for over a decade until the ascent of Tribe at grade E11-12 5.14d (9a) in 2019 and of Bon Voyage at grade E12 5.14d (9a) in 2024.