Platinum or Nothing: Sasha DiGiulian Free Climbs El Capitan
Picture Yosemite’s granite cathedral getting drop-kicked by a fever dream, gear jangling, wind screeching, and a climber charging straight up the wall. That’s Sasha DiGiulian on the Platinum Wall, the 39-pitch 5.13d monster parked right beside The Nose like a smug older sibling. And yeah, she sent it.
Not in some perfect-weather, sunshine-and-espresso scenario either. No. This was a 23-day siege complete with snow, rain, and full winter smackdown vibes. After styling her way through 32 pitches, a nine-day storm rolled in like a crusty bouncer yelling “NOT TODAY.” So Sasha and route co-establisher Elliot Faber hunkered down on the wall, shivering out the weather with the kind of perseverance only lifers understand.
When the sky finally chilled out, Sasha got back on the stone and took it to the top.
DiGiulian said after: "I have a lot to process. I have so much to be grateful for. This most certainly felt like the most formative and challenging climb of my career."
Platinum Wall isn’t some obscure back-alley project either. Faber and Rob Miller pieced it together between 2012 and 2016. The German duo Tobias Wolf and Thomas Hering grabbed the second ascent in 2018. Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell did their cosmic-cruiser repeat this year. And now Sasha joins the list, except she did it with hurricane-level resilience.
But honestly, should we even be surprised? Sasha’s been detonating limits since forever. She sent 5.14+ at a young age, redpointed Magic Mushroom on Eiger's north face, endured hip reconstruction surgeries, plural, and instead of fading out like a scratched-up old deck, she rebuilt, recharged, and came back gnarlier than ever. By 2025 she and Marianna Ordóñez became the first women to free Madagascar’s Bravo Les Filles (600 m, 5.13d). In between the mayhem, she dropped her memoir Take the Lead.
So here’s the truth: Sasha isn’t just back. She’s redefining the comeback.
The message? Wait out storms. Defy the odds. Climb free. Go Hard.
