Barbara Zangerl of Austria has climbed Meltdown (5.14c / 8c+) in Yosemite, one of the world’s most difficult trad crack lines.
She first attempted it in November 2022. This year, she went back to send the line that Beth Rodden climbed for the first time in 2008. Rodden never graded Meltdown, but when Carlo Traversi made the first repetition 10 years later, he judged it 8c+ trad. Zangerl’s partner, Jacopo Larcher, made the second repetition in November 2022.
Barbara Zangerl. Photo: Ben Neilson
Zangerl is the first woman to repeat the iconic test piece.
“I’m so happy that finally I sent this route!” Zangerl exulted. “Such an amazing line. I think it was the hardest trad line I’ve done so far. It felt hard for the grade.”
She emphasized the mental battle it took to succeed. She had to reduce her gear to a minimum to save strength because getting past the crux was such low-percentage odds.
In her interview with sponsor Black Diamond, Zangerl noted that it was rare that her foot held on the crux’s mini-edge.
“My foot slipped so many times,” she said. “When I got past this hard sequence today, I knew that it was my chance.”
She observed that the upper part of the route was still hard and very tricky.
Zangerl thanked Beth Rodden for the inspiration.
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