Some 26 years ago, the legendary American climber Lynn Hill and all-star team were busy developing what was, at the time, the most difficult big wall climb ever sent by an all-female group. Madagascar's spectacular Tsaranoro massif's granite cliffs were the setting for what would be a pioneering and historic climb.
They named the 2,000ft (600m) route Bravo les Filles – Well done Girls in French (one of the two main languages spoken on the island). During their 15-day ascent, one pitch eluded the team, the 5.13d (8b) crux of the route, which they were unable to free climb.
But that's all changed, after Hill's protégé Sasha DiGuilian and climbing partner Marianna "Mango" Ordóñez successfully free climbed the route, becoming the first women in history to do so and finishing what Hill and her team started.
After a three-day effort involving some committing run outs (long sections without protection) and nights spent on a portaledge, the pair emerged victorious, writing their name into climbing history.
In a post on Instagram, DiGiulian said: "Elated, proud, and grateful to have had such a memorable experience on a legendary line with an incredible friend!!! Also grateful for the amazing line established by Lynn Hill, Nancy Feagin, Kath Pyke and Beth Rodden!"
The 1999 attempt
Widely regarded as one of the greatest sport climbers in history, Lynn Hill had already wowed the world with her incredible achievements during the 1980s and '90s. Her first free climb of El Cap's The Nose in 1993 stamped her name into the history books. She repeated the feat in just 23 hours the following year, prompting German climbing legend Alexander Huber to state that she had "passed men’s dominance in climbing and left them behind".
In 1999, she spearheaded an all-female team of Nancy Feaginm, Kathy Pyke and a 19-year-old Beth Rodden in an attempt to climb the hardest big wall route ever put up by a female team. The team painstakingly developed the sport climbing route on Tsaranoro Kelly, a hugely challenging granite cliff. This involved weeks of climbing where they'd drill bolts into the face to setup the route.
After all this effort, Hill was exhausted. The act of setting the 13-pitch route up seemed to have scuppered her chances of achieving a redpoint - a form of free climb wherein the climber rehearses a route before sending it without falling or resting on the rope.
Nevertheless, the team managed to mostly free climb climb the route, requiring aid only on the eighth pitch, the 5.13d (8b) crux.
The film below tells the story of their 1999 expedition.
