Solène Amoros, Katherine Choong repeat Ali Baba at Aiglun in France

Ali Baba was established precisely 20 years ago by Philippe Mussatto up the Paroi dérobée at Aiglun in France and over time the wildly overhanging, 240m gem has evolved into a one of France’s "mythique" climbs due to the beauty and difficulty of the individual pitches. The route has been previously repeated by women such as Nina Caprez, Florence Pinet and Anna Stöhr, and now Solène Amoros from France and Katherine Choong from Switzerland have pulled off the first all-female ascent. 

After spending two days transporting all their gear to the base of the route, Amoros and Choong repeated the route in commendable style: without working the line, they sent it ground-up over a period of 3 and a half days. They did not return to the ground, spent 3 nights in their portaledge and both led every pitch.

Commenting after their successful ascent, Chong stated "These very steep pitches, hauling the bags, the fatigue of the short nights and the successive climbing days pushed us to go beyond our physical and mental limits and to look for the necessary resources to succeed together by supporting each other at every moment! An adventure full of emotions, moments of joy, complicity, and surpassing oneself that will remain engraved as one of the strongest experiences of our climbing career!"

A short film retracing their adventure will be released in 2023.

Alibaba
240m, 60m overhanging, 8a+ max
Location: Paroi dérobée, Aiglun, France
The pitches: 8a, 8a, 7b+, 8a, 8a+, 8a+, 8a+, 7b+
First ascent: Philippe Mussato, 2002
Repeat: Solène Amoros (Annecy, France) and Katherine Choong (Moutier, Switzerland), from 26 September to 2 October 2022