Q&A: Babsi and Jacopo Send Magic Line

Photographer: Jacopo Larcher Athlete: Babsi Zangerl Location: Yosemite, CA

Q&A: Babsi and Jacopo Send Magic Line

BD Athletes Babsi Zangerl and Jacopo Larcher share their story of climbing one of the world’s most mythical trad routes.

Q&A:

OK, when did this mythical route become an objective?

Jacopo: As a trad climber and Yosemite’s enthusiast it was high up on my dream route list! My first glimpse of the route was back in 2019, when I got the chance to witness Hazel’s ascent of this iconic line. She was looking for a belayer and we supported her during the send day.

Babsi: I belayed her [Hazel] when she sent the route, which was such an inspiration to me. It is just such a beautiful line that I was sure to come back trying it one day.

Jacopo: In 2022, I finally committed to focusing on a single pitch (Meltdown) instead of jumping on a big wall. It was hard at first, but at the same time it was nice to experience the Valley seasons from another perspective. Yosemite has so much to offer. I hoped to start trying Magic Line during that trip, but a winter storm changed my plans.

Last year I had to skip the season, but when Babsi came back home after having worked on the route with some friends (and having sent Meltdown!) and she was willing to try it again this fall … well it wasn’t hard for her to talk me into it.

Babsi: After I had climbed Meltdown, I got psyched to have a look on Magic Line [with Laura Neumeier]. We got hooked on it right away. We tried it multiple days that season, but the season came to a close, and we had to wait for this season.

In the footage, Kauk is climbing the route with no shirt, headband, and shorts. Babsi, what was your style for the send day?

Babsi: Ron Kauk the godfather of climbing was wearing a red headband, so I skipped the helmet and did that too. Red headband worked great on Magic line :-) That style they had back in the days!!! I just love it! My apparel for the send, definitely looked less cool: Solution merino baselayer; Coefficient LT pants; T-shirt, headband, with a Vision AirNet harness. And right after: Access Hoody; Belay pants, Coefficient LT quarter zip pullover.

Jacopo—send day equipment list?

Jacopo: AirNet harness, Team chalkbag, lots of small Camlot Z4’s well organized on the harness (with a few “quick-fire” cam releases).

What’s the rack for the route?

Jacopo: We mostly used small, normal and offset Z4’s (up to 0.3). Plus 2 small offset stoppers and one red ball-nut on the crux. The gear is small, but it feels solid! Placing it definitely adds some difficulty to the route, so it was key to organize it well on the harness, in order to be as fast as possible and save energy.

OK, logistically, what’s it like to try Magic Line—is it easily protected? Scary? Give us the run down.

Jacopo: Magic Line its located in a beautiful setting, hidden behind some trees at the base of the Vernal Falls. The “longish” but mellow approach is the perfect way to start a climbing day, and also keep the crowd away. I really liked the daily routing of walking and climbing up there. It’s also the only line on that wall, so you can focus your entire energy just on it.

Babsi: When we worked the route it helped a lot to place the gear also on TR, to get more confident on it. There are a lot of good possibilities to protect it, but the thing is that the climb is so insecure you can’t place anytime anywhere. It was very tricky to find out the best placements where you don’t need much extra power to place the gear. The crux is protected with a red ball nut which was always bomber. All of us had fallen on this piece and it never came out. At the very top you have another hard crux. Super insecure climbing on bad feet. I did a huge run out at the end, and I was sooo scared to fall there. I just hadn’t that extra power left to place another cam up there. Luckily, I never experienced that mega fall.

OK, send day vibes, what made the difference?

Babsi: I didn’t expect anything on this day. I still had the feeling I would need more tries to send it. I hadn’t really got past the first crux before. On my first lead try of the day I got over the crux for the first time ever. So, I wanted to fight as much I could.

Jacopo, considering Babsi sent first, was the pressure on?

Jacopo: I kind of knew that this was going to happen. I have to admit that I felt a lot of unfounded pressure, both from myself and the outside, and I coped badly with it, not being my better self. I was of course super happy for Babsi and it was amazing to witness her send! I definitely didn’t feel any pressure from her side, and she was very supportive. People were joking about it all the time though, which added a bit of extra pressure. I didn’t want to slow our trip down and the insecure nature of the route added some extra stress. The last days before the send had been a bit of a rollercoaster. It took some effort to get rid of it, but once more, the key to success was to simply enjoy the process every single try. You don’t get to climb on such a gem every day and share it with good people! Now I’m almost sad that it’s over, but happy she didn’t have to wait for long :-)

How does it stack up to Meltdown?

Babsi: It is really hard to compare! I think Meltdown is more athletic and powerful. Magic Line is mentally harder and the insecure climbing stays on all the way to the top.

Jacopo: Meltdown suits me better and that’s probably why it felt easier. It’s physically harder, but the climbing is more secure. Magic Line is the completely opposite.

Alright, give us a little tease about what’s next.

Jacopo: After having focused for a few weeks just on laybacking thin cracks, we are trying to get better at climbing some wider stuff. It does feel even harder though …

Babsi: Monster offwidth. I am already scared.