Babsi Zangerl sends Meltdown (8c+) trad

Babsi Zangerl has made the third repeat of Beth Rodden’s Meltdown (8c+) in Yosemite (CA). The 20m almost vertical line that starts with laybacking a thin crack on poor feet, was put up in 2008 as the first 8c+ trad climb in the world. Carlo Traversi did the first repeat in 2018 and then Babsi's partner Jacopo Larcher sent it last year and commented.

"I would like to highlight once more what Beth did in 2008, which was way ahead of the times, both in women and mens climbing history! I honestly believe the shorter you are, the harder this route gets...and yes: fingers size doesn’t matter!"

Zangerl, who's 162 cm tall and has a -2 cm in ape-index, is one of the best all-around climbers in the world, having already additionally completed 8B boulder problems, 9a routes and several big walls, including three of the hardest in Yosemite, up to 8b+.

“I am so happy that I finally sent this route!! Such an amazing line. I think it was the hardest trad line I have done so far. It felt hard for the grade. For me it was a real mental battle. I had to reduce my gear to a minimum to save some power, because to get through the crux was always a low percentage. It was not even close to 50/50 that my foot stuck on the tiny mini-edge. My foot slipped so many times. When I got past this hard sequence today I knew that it was my chance; I had to keep it together. It is still not over there. The upper part of the route was still very hard, and very tricky to place the final micro-nut. I almost fell off on the last two hard moves. Such an iconic line and big thanks to Beth Rodden for the inspiration, you are a legend!” (c) Ben Neilson / Black Diamond