Meet the world's best rock climber you've (probably) never heard of

Zangerl and Jacobo Larcher—her partner, both for this climb and in life—had already spent the past nine days climbing and camping in portaledges on El Capitan's majestic face. “She’s such an unassuming ‘world’s best.’ She’s so mellow that it’s hard to think of her as ‘the best,’ which is a good thing.”(Meet the one-handed champion who is reinventing rock-climbing.)Zangerl is a professional climber, but also holds a part-time job in Bludenz, Austria, as a radiographer in a hospital. By the end of their date, it was clear that each had found a partner with the right mix of grit and humor, traits that go a long way on big wall climbs.“We’re a good team,” says Zangerl. They also always try to climb “ground up,” as opposed to the common practice of rappeling down routes in advance of their ascents in order to scope the gear placements and the moves required.“For me, it’s more memorable when I have to work more for a route,” says Zangerl. “When you have to do all the stuff you don’t really want to do, like haul heavy bags and clean cracks and take scary falls, somehow it makes it more like an adventure.”(Meet the super climbers who came to the rescue on the 'Killer Mountain')“I think Babsi is rare in her ability to enjoy the vast amounts of hard work that come with big-wall free climbing,” says Tommy Caldwell, who has claimed numerous first-ascent free climbs on El Capitan, including the Dawn Wall and Magic Mushroom. Then, on their eleventh day on Magic Mushroom, Zangerl and Larcher successfully reached the summit of El Capitan, having completed a stunning second ascent, in the best style possible.“I think the most important thing in climbing is to just go and try it,” says Zangerl, “because you never know what you’re capable of doing.”PUBLISHED March 1, 2019© 1996-2019 National Geographic Society.