A Woman Just Made El Capitan History – And She Did It In Hardcore Mode

Sasha DiGiulian Makes History in Yosemite

Sasha DiGiulian hung in a tent 2,400 feet up El Capitan for nine days straight while a storm dumped rain and snow on her. She ate freeze-dried food, watched ice chunks fall, and waited.

When the weather finally broke, the rock was still wet and slippery, but she kept climbing anyway.

Three pitches from the top, her partner had to leave for a family emergency, so she waited two more days on the wall hoping he’d come back.

He couldn’t, but on November 26, she finished it alone and became the first woman to free-climb the Platinum Wall, the longest route up one of the most famous rocks in the world.

The Platinum Wall Stretches 3,000 Feet Straight Up

El Capitan towers over Yosemite Valley like a granite thumb twice the height of the Empire State Building. The Platinum Wall, also called the Direct Line, is the longest free-climbing route on the whole formation.

It has 39 pitches that wind up blank slabs and steep corners for 3,000 feet. The hardest sections rate 5. 13d, which means tiny holds, powerful moves, and long sequences where one mistake sends you swinging into space on your rope.

Climbers divide the wall into pitches, setting up anchor points every 100 to 150 feet, and the Platinum Wall demands technical precision on every single one.

She Planned Two Weeks But Stayed Three

DiGiulian and her climbing partner Elliot Faber arrived at Yosemite on October 8 and spent weeks preparing.

They hiked more than 30 gallons of water to the top of El Capitan and stashed it along the route so they could access it later. They set up rope anchors at key points.

Faber helped establish the route years earlier by mapping out credit card-sized holds on the blank granite, but he’d never actually climbed it. On November 3, they started up.

The plan was 14 to 16 days.

They brought enough supplies and built weather windows into the schedule, but what happened next wasn’t in any forecast.

A Storm Trapped Them 2,400 Feet Up

On day nine, a storm rolled in without warning. DiGiulian and Faber set up camp on the 32nd pitch at a ledge called the Golden Edge and waited.

Wind slammed the tent door all night. Rain turned to snow.

The temperature dropped. They cooked on a small Jetboil stove and ate freeze-dried meals.

DiGiulian had brought Send bars, a protein bar she invented herself, and they rationed their Kindle battery to read during the long hours.

They toggled their phones between airplane mode to save power and regular mode to send updates to people below. The tent kept them dry, but the cold and wind made sleep almost impossible.

Nine Days With Nothing to Do But Wait

The storm didn’t let up for nine days. DiGiulian and Faber stayed in the hanging tent with nowhere to go and nothing to do but watch the weather. Ice chunks fell from the rock above them.

The wind whipped the tent so hard the door wouldn’t stop flapping. They stayed warm enough, but the mental challenge was harder than the physical one.

Everything about normal life disappeared. No walking. No movement.

Just sitting in a tent suspended on a wall with 2,400 feet of air below and 600 feet of wet granite above, waiting for the sky to clear.

They Climbed Through Soaked Rock and Falling Ice

After 18 days on the wall, the weather finally broke enough to climb. But the rock was still soaked.

Water sheeted down from the summit and made every hold slippery.

The remaining pitches included some of the hardest climbing on the route, and the wet conditions made them even worse.

DiGiulian put on a helmet because ice chunks kept breaking loose from the rock above and falling past her. She climbed pitches rated 5.13c and 5.13d while gripping wet holds and trying not to think about how much harder everything felt when the rock wouldn’t stay dry.

Her Partner Had to Leave Three Pitches From the Summit

Elliot Faber climbed with DiGiulian for 20 days and helped her through the storm and the hardest pitches. But three pitches from the top, he got word of a family emergency and had to leave.

He rappelled down and left her on the wall. DiGiulian wanted to finish together, so she stayed put and hoped he’d be able to come back.

She waited two more days alone on the wall while friends below tried to figure out logistics. Faber finally told her he couldn’t return and gave her his blessing to summit without him.

She Finished With a Camera Crew and Friends

When it became clear Faber wouldn’t make it back, DiGiulian called up friends and a camera crew to help her with the final three pitches. Ryan Sheridan belayed her to the top while Pablo Durana filmed.

On November 26, after 23 days on the wall, DiGiulian pulled herself over the summit edge and laughed because she hadn’t walked in so long.

She became the first woman to free-climb the Platinum Wall and only the fourth team ever to complete the route. The climb took three times longer than she planned, but she finished it.

Only Three Other Teams Have Climbed This Route

Rob Miller and Roby Rudolf made the first free ascent of the Platinum Wall in 2017 after working on it for years. Germans Tobias Wolf and Thomas Hering climbed it in 2018.

Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell, two of the most famous climbers in the world, completed it earlier in 2024 just before the storms hit. DiGiulian is now the fourth team to finish it and the first woman.

Most climbers who attempt El Capitan take five to seven days on easier routes, and about 60 percent succeed. The Platinum Wall is longer and harder than almost anything else on the formation.

She Won Championships for a Decade Straight

DiGiulian started climbing at age six and won her first competition at seven.

She became a World Champion at 19 and went undefeated in the Pan American Championships for 10 years. In 2011, she became the first North American woman to climb a 5.14d route when she completed Pure Imagination in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge.

She’s climbed more than 50 routes rated 5.14 and made more than 30 first female ascents around the world. In 2015, she became the first woman to free-climb Magic Mushroom on the Eiger in Switzerland.

The climbing emoji on your phone is based on her image.

She Called It the Proudest Climb of Her Career

When DiGiulian reached the summit, she texted from the top with swollen and taped fingers. She said it was the proudest climb of her career and she couldn’t believe it was done.

For years she’d been committed to this specific line, and the climb consumed her.

The storm, the wait, the wet rock, and finishing without her partner made it harder than anything she’d attempted before.

But she kept going when most people would have bailed, and on November 26, she stood on top of El Capitan knowing she’d just done something nobody else had.

Visiting the Platinum Wall, El Capitan, California

El Capitan sits at the western end of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park.

You can see it from multiple viewpoints along Northside Drive, including El Capitan Meadow, which gives you a clear view of the entire south face where the Platinum Wall climbs. The park charges $35 per vehicle for a seven-day pass.

In summer, arrive early because parking fills up by mid-morning. Bring binoculars if you want to spot climbers on the wall.

The best months to visit are May through October when roads are open and weather is stable, though serious climbers prefer fall and spring when temperatures are cooler.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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