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 Many climbing routes have grades for the technical difficulty, and in some cases for the risks, of the route. The first ascent, first ascensionist can suggest a grade but it will be amended for the ''consensus view'' of subsequent ascents. W ...

achieved by a female in every major rock climbing discipline, including

bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

traditional climbing Traditional climbing (or trad climbing) is a type of free climbing in rock climbing where the lead climber places removable protection while simultaneously ascending the route; when the lead climber has completed the route, the second climber ...

sport climbing Sport climbing (or bolted climbing) is a type of free climbing in the sport of rock climbing where the Lead climbing, lead climber clips their climbing rope, rope — via a quickdraw — into pre-drilled in-situ bolt (climbing), bolts for their ...

multi-pitch climbing Multi-pitch climbing is a type of climbing that typically takes place on climbing routes, routes that are more than a single rope length (circa 50 to 70 metres) in height (or distance), and thus where the lead climber cannot complete the climb as ...

and

big wall climbing Big wall climbing is a form of rock climbing that takes place on long and sheer multi-pitch climbing, multi-pitch climbing routes, routes (of ''at least'' 6–10 pitches or 300–500 metres) that require a full day, if not several days, to ascen ...

. She was the first-ever female to solve an 8A+/8B (V12/13) graded

route with ''Pura Vida'' in 2008, and has repeated some of the hardest

routes in the world, including ''Meltdown'' in 2023, which at is still the hardest traditional climbing grade by a female climber. Zangerl has redpointed up to

grade with her ascent of ''Bombardino'' in 2025. Zangerl has made the first female free ascent (FFFA) of several major multi-pitch and

big wall Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * Big (film), ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * ''Big!'', a ...

climbing routes including the in 2013, three major routes on

El Capitan El Capitan (; ) is a vertical Rock formations in the United States, rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The El Capitan Granite, granite monolith is about from base to summit alo ...

(''El Nino'' in 2015, ''Zodiac'' in 2015, and ''Magic Mushroom'' in 2016), the

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends ...

's hardest route, ''Odyssee'', in 2018, and one of the hardest high-altitude big wall routes, ''

Eternal Flame An eternal flame is a flame, lamp or torch that burns for an indefinite time. Most eternal flames are ignited and tended intentionally, but some are natural phenomena caused by natural gas leaks, peat fires and coal seam fires, all of which ca ...

'' on the Nameless Tower in Pakistan, in 2022. Zangerl became the first person in history to successfully

flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...

a route on El Capitan (Freerider in 2024). In 2019, she was named as the

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'Adventurer of the Year'. She is also known for her climbing partnership with Italian rock climber Jacopo Larcher.

Early life

Zangerl was born and raised in the small village of Strengen in the Austrian

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

. 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 A climbing gym is a gym dedicated to indoor climbing. Climbing gyms have climbing walls that can be used for lead climbing, leading, Top rope climbing, top roping, and bouldering. They sometimes offer training equipment to improve technique, stren ...

in the neighboring village of Flirsch am Arlberg, where she became hooked on the sport. Austrian climber –no relation—introduced the girls to climbing on natural rock, and to

in particular.

Climbing career

Bouldering

Focusing initially on bouldering, in 2005, Zangerl solved her first 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 , and ''Pura Vida'' was considered at least 8A+/B and possibly 8B. While the first-ever full 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. 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.

Sport climbing

After retiring from bouldering and taking time off in 2009 to allow her back to recover, Zangerl began to focus on easier

routes. While single pitch sport climbing never became a core focus for Zangerl, by 2018 she was climbing at the grade of when the highest achieved female sport climbing grade was just two notches higher at . Zangerl made the first female free ascent (FFFA) of several notable sport routes including ''Speed Integrale'' (9a, 2018), ''Everything is Karate'' (8c+/9a, 2019), and ''Sprengstoff'' (9a, 2021). Zangerl has the

first free ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers and climbers focused ...

(FFA) of her own single-pitch routes including ''Gondo Crack'' in 2017 (which she " greenpointed" as a traditional route).

Traditional climbing

Zangerl's first

route was ''Super Krill'' in 2012. By 2014, she had made the FFFA of 's '' Prinzip Hoffnung'' at 5.14 R 8b/+ E9/E10, which was one of the hardest traditional routes at the time. Over the next few years, Zangerl made the FFFA of several notable traditional testpieces including Dave MacLeod's ''Achemine'' E9 6c 8b (2016), Sonnie Trotter's ''The Path'' R (2018), and Didier Berthod's ''Greenspit'' R (2020). In 2023, she made the fourth-ever ascent of

Beth Rodden Beth Rodden (born April 5, 1980) is an American rock climber known for her ascents of hard single-pitch traditional climbing routes. She was the youngest woman to climb and is one of the only women in the world to have redpointed a traditiona ...

's ''Meltdown'' in

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is a national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service ...

, which at was still the hardest traditional grade achieved by a female, and one notch behind the hardest traditional grade of .

Big wall climbing

It is in

–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 Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

on big wall routes, they will both individually lead all of the hard pitches. In 2013, Zangerl became the first-ever female, and only the fourth-ever person, to complete the of extreme multi-pitch

alpine routes, that include ' (2013), ' (2013), and ' (2012). In 2015, Zangerl followed it up with the second-ever female ascent of

Alexander Huber Alexander Huber (born 30 December 1968) 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 c ...

's ' , and the joint-FFFA, with , of Beat Kammerlander's ''Die Unendliche Geschichte'' (''The Neverending Story'') . From 2015, Zangerl, climbing with partner Larcher, made the FFFA of several major big wall routes on

including ''El Nino'' (2015), ''Zodiac'' (2016), and ''Magic Mushroom'' (2017). 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. In 2018, Zangerl and Larcher moved into big wall

alpine climbing Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpi ...

routes making the first repeat of the

's hardest route, ''Odyssee'' at . In 2020, they returned to make the first one-day ascent of the route, taking under 16 hours. 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, ''

'' , on the Nameless Tower in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, where the crux is at over .

Legacy

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. She is noted for climbing at, or just below, the highest

being achieved by female rock climbers in each discipline, at various stages in her career. In 2019, ''

'' 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". 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". American climber

Alex Honnold Alex Honnold (born August 17, 1985) is an American rock climber best known for his Free solo climbing, free solo ascents of Big wall climbing, big walls. Honnold rose to worldwide fame in June 2017 when he became the first person to free solo a f ...

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". In 2021, ''PlanetMountain'' called her "One of the great all-round climbers of our time". In 2022, ''

Climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or other parts of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders) to small boulders. Climbing is done for locom ...

'' 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

, making her one of the best, most versatile climbers in the world". ''Flashed'' is a documentary about Zangerl becoming the first person in history to successfully

a route on El Capitan, which she did in 2024.

Personal life

For much of her professional climbing career, Zangerl has also held a part-time job as an assistant medical

radiographer Radiographers, also known as radiology technologists, radiologic technologists, diagnostic radiographers and medical radiation technologists, are healthcare professionals who specialise in the imaging of human anatomy for the diagnosis and tr ...

in a hospital in

Bludenz Bludenz (; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ''Bludaz'') is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg with around 15,000 inhabitants. It is the administrative seat of the Bludenz District, which encompasses about half of Vorarlberg's territ ...

in Austria. She began her studies as a radiographer while convalescing from her back injury in 2009. Since 2013, Zangerl has been in a relationship with Italian climber Jacopo Larcher, and the pair have been regular climbing partners since then. In 2019, Zangerl told ''

'' 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".

Awards

* In 2019, Zangerl was named a

'Adventurer of the Year'. * In 2019, Zangerl was awarded the

Leif Erikson Leif Erikson, also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norsemen, Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to set foot on continental Americas, America, approximately half a millennium before Christopher Columbus. According ...

'Young Explorer Award'.

Notable ascents

Bouldering Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...

* 2008: ''Pura Vida'' 8A+/8B (V12/13), Magic Wood, Switzerland. FFFA and one of the hardest female boulder ascents at the time; while the first-ever full would be by Angie Payne in 2010, Zangerl is considered one of the first-ever boulder at 8A+/8B by a female. * 2005: ''X-Ray'' , Silvretta, Austria.

Sport climbing Sport climbing (or bolted climbing) is a type of free climbing in the sport of rock climbing where the Lead climbing, lead climber clips their climbing rope, rope — via a quickdraw — into pre-drilled in-situ bolt (climbing), bolts for their ...

* 2025: ''Bombardino'' Arco, Italy. * 2021: ''Sprengstoff'' (''Explosive'') Lorüns Vorarlberg, Austria. FFFA. * 2020: ''Instructor'' (5.14c/d)

Vorarlberg Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...

, Austria. FFFA. * 2020: ''Unleashed''

, Austria. FFFA. * 2019: ''Everything is Karate''

Bishop, California Bishop (formerly Bishop Creek) is the only incorporated city in Inyo County, California, United States. It is located near the northern end of the Owens Valley within the Mojave Desert, at an elevation of . The city was named after Bishop Creek ...

, US. FFFA of Ethan Pringle's 2017 route. * 2018: ''Speed Integrale'' , Voralpsee, Switzerland. FFFA of 's 2010 route. * 2017: ''Chikane'' , Siurana, Spain. Her first 8c+ redpoint.

Traditional climbing Traditional climbing (or trad climbing) is a type of free climbing in rock climbing where the lead climber places removable protection while simultaneously ascending the route; when the lead climber has completed the route, the second climber ...

* 2023: ''Meltdown'' , E11,

, USA. Fourth-ever ascent of

's 2008 traditional testpiece. * 2021: ''Le Voyage'' E10 7a 8b+, Annot, France. FFFA, and the fourth-ever ascent, of James Pearson's 2017 route. * 2020: ''Greenspit'' R, E10/11, Orco Valley, Italy. FFFA of Didier Berthod's 2003 crack climbing test piece. * 2018: ''The Path'' R, E10/11,

Lake Louise, Alberta Lake Louise is a hamlet within Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. Named after Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, it lies in Alberta's Rockies on the Bow River, northeast of the lake that shares its name. Initially settled in 1884 as an ...

, Canada. FFFA of Sonnie Trotter's famous 2007 traditional route. * 2017: ''Gondo Crack'' R, Cippo, Switzerland. FFA as a sport climb, and then made second-ever ascent (and FFFA) as a traditional climb. * 2016: ''Achemine'' E9 6c 8b,

Dumbarton Rock Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,99 ...

, Scotland. FFFA, and first repeat, of Dave MacLeod's 2001 route, and Scotland's first E9. * 2016: ''

Requiem A Requiem (Latin: ''rest'') or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead () or Mass of the dead (), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is ...

'' E8 6b/c 8a,

, Scotland. Second-ever female ascent of Dave Cuthbertson's famous 1983 route. * 2014: '' Prinzip Hoffnung'' 5.14 R 8b/+, E9/E10,

, Austria. FFFA of 's testpiece.

Big wall climbing Big wall climbing is a form of rock climbing that takes place on long and sheer multi-pitch climbing, multi-pitch climbing routes, routes (of ''at least'' 6–10 pitches or 300–500 metres) that require a full day, if not several days, to ascen ...

* 2024: ''Freerider''

, USA. First ever flash of an El Capitan route. * 2019: '' The Nose'' ,

, USA. Zangerl and climbing partner Jacopo Larcher became the 8th and 9th climbers to make a free (i.e. no use of

aid climbing Aid climbing is a form of rock climbing that uses mechanical devices and equipment, such as aiders (or ladders), for upward momentum. Aid climbing is contrasted with free climbing (in both its traditional or sport free climbing formats), whi ...

techniques) ascent of the famous big wall route that was first freed by Lynn Hill in 1993. * 2019: ''Pre-Muir Wall'' ,

, USA. Repeat with climbing partner Jacopo Larcher. * 2018: ''Odyssee'' ,

, Switzerland. FFFA and first repeat of the hardest route on the north face of the Eiger with Jacopo Larcher over 4 days. In 2020, the pair returned to make the first one-day ascent of the 1,400-metre route in 16 hours. * 2018: ''Sangre de Toro'' , Rote Wand, Lechquellen, Austria. FFFA of Alex Luger's 2014 free climb. * 2017: ''Magic Mushroom'' ,

, USA. FFFA and second-ever free ascent with Larcher of Caldwell's 2008 route. * 2016: ''Zodiac'' ,

, USA. FFFA and third-ever free ascent with Jacopo Larcher of Huber's 2003 route. * 2015: ''El Nino'' ,

, USA. FFFA of Huber's 1998 route. * 2015: ''Die Unendliche Geschichte'' (''The Neverending Story'') ,

Rätikon The Rätikon is a mountain range of the Central Eastern Alps, located at the border between Vorarlberg, Liechtenstein and Canton of Grisons, Graubünden. It is the geological border between the Eastern Alps, Eastern and Western Alps and stretch ...

, Switzerland. Joint FFFA with and only the second-ever repeat of 's famous 1990 alpine big wall route. * 2015: ' , Cima Ovest,

Dolomites The Dolomites ( ), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range in northeastern Italy. They form part of the Southern Limestone Alps and extend from the River Adige in the west to the Piave Va ...

, Italy. Repeat of Huber's famous 2001 route; FFFA was by Sasha DiGiulian in 2013. * 2013: First-ever woman to complete the famous of extreme

alpine routes: :* 2013: ' , Fleischbank, Austria. FFFA of Stefan Glowacz's 1994 route. :* 2013: ' ,

, Switzerland. Second-ever female ascent of 's famous 1993 route. :* 2012: ' ,

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps. South of the town, the Be ...

, Germany. FFA of Thomas Huber's 1994 alpine route.

High-altitude climbing

* 2022: ''

'' , Nameless Tower,

. FFFA, and only the third-ever free ascent with partner Jacopo Larcher, of the historic Güllich, Albert et al. 1989 route with the crux at 6000 metres; the FFA was by

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

and Thomas Huber in 2009.

References

Extended links

Barbara Zangerl
theCrag.com web page (2024)
Barbara Zangerl Athlete Page
UKClimbing Magazine (2024)
Watch Five Films on Crusher Barbara Zangerl
''Gripped Magazine'' (2017) {{DEFAULTSORT:Zangerl, Barbara 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Tyrol (federal state) Austrian rock climbers Austrian female climbers Austrian competition climbers Boulder climbers People from Landeck District Radiographers 21st-century Austrian sportswomen