BURSTSasha DiGiulian and Marianna Ordóñez have made the first female free ascent of Bravo Les Filles, a challenging multi-pitch route on Tsaranoro Kelly in Madagascar, originally established in 1999 by Lynn Hill, Nancy Faegan, Kath Pike, and Beth Rodden. The all-female team climbed it ground-up over 15 days, freeing all pitches except pitch eight.
Hill freed the crux moves individually but couldn’t link them, rating the route 5.12c/A0. At the time, it was the hardest big wall climb established by a women’s team. The first free ascent was completed by Spanish brothers Eneko and Iker Pou in 2004, rated at 5.13d. In early June, DiGiulian and Ordóñez started the route, navigating the bold lower section and decoding the crux pitch.
About the climb, Hill said, “It was challenging to be the leader of such a trip since I felt responsible for Beth Rodden, who was only nineteen-years-old at the time and had done only one short multi-pitch climb in Smith Rocks, Oregon before this trip. I had limited experience bolting routes from the ground up (I had bolted a few routes in Vietnam from the water up), and the type of granite in Madagascar was much more difficult due to the lack of cracks or in-cut features to hang sky-hooks from in order to let go with both hands to drill a bolt. By the end of our two-and-a-half week trip, we had completed the first ascent of Bravo Les Filles. I still don’t know of a more difficult first ascent ever established by a team of women.”
They completed a three-day free ascent, with DiGiulian sending the crux pitch on her first attempt and the following 5.12 pitch before returning to their portaledge at the crux’s base for the night. The next day, DiGiulian onsighted the final 200 metres to the summit. They rappelled back to the portaledge for a final night, then cleaned their gear and descended safely on the morning of day three.
1999 Trip
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