Potomac School Graduate Achieves Female Climbing First

Potomac School graduate and Alexandria native Sasha DiGiulian is no stranger to pushing the boundaries of the world of professional climbing.

DiGiulian won a gold medal at the World Championships and became the first female to climb a 9a (5.14d) grade, all before the age of 20. She’s since added three National Championships to that list of accomplishments, and also found the time to return to her academic career at Columbia University.

Still, what DiGiulian accomplished this summer may be her biggest achievement yet: Becoming the first woman to successfully climb the North face of the Eiger, a mountain in the Bernese Alps.

DiGiulian completed the climb in late-August by climbing a route called Magic Mushroom, which has a (7c+) grade.

She began climbing at the age of 6, and began competing at the age of 8. After conquering two routes at the Red River Gorge in Kentucky during her senior year of high school, she took a year off to travel, climb and compete, winning her World Championship in that time.

She continues to climb professionally while studying at Columbia, and is an athlete representative on the board of the International Federation of Sport Climbing.

DiGiulian graduated from the Potomac School in 2011 and will turn 23 next month.

Image credit: @sashadigiulian