‘Bloody fingers with pink nails’: how Sasha DiGiulian broke climbing’s glass ceiling

Sasha DiGiulian makes the first female ascent of Bellavista, a multi-pitch 5.14b climb in the Dolomites of Northern Italy. Photograph: Jensen Walker

In August 2013, Sasha DiGiulian traveled to the Dolomites to attempt Bellavista, a dream years in the making. After two weeks of working on the crux pitches, she climbed the entire route in a single push, becoming the first woman to climb a 5.14b big wall, breaking a major barrier in the sport.

Then a sport climber, DiGiulian was incredibly strong on single-pitch routes, but unaccustomed to the complexity of big walls. “I had climbed 5.14d, so I thought the 5.14b pitches wouldn’t be so hard, but I learned how much the logistics, weather, and fatigue add up,” she says.