Italian ice and drytool climber Angelika Rainer has become the first woman to climb D15 with an ascent of A line above the sky (M15) at Tomorrow's World in the Dolomites, Italy. The line is considered to be one of the hardest drytool routes in the world, with only Gordon McArthur's Storm Giant D16 surpassing it in difficulty (UKC News).

Oh yes! 'A line above the sky', D15 went down today!!! Can't tell how happy I am 😬🎉 When I tried the route for the first time 2 years ago, some of the single moves seemed very hard, really on my limit. Today, all 40 meters of overhanging climbing went smoothly!!! Thanks so much @tom.ballard for creating such a fun project close to home and thanks @marco_serva for coming to belay me, when my feeling said me that it could be the right day 😊😘. 📸 by Michael Maili. . . . #drytooling #iceclimbing #iceaxes #climbing #climbing_photos_of_instagram #climbinglife #visionofemotion #kikuapples #angelikarainer @berghausofficial @lasportivagram @grivel @visionofemotion

A post shared by Angelika Rainer (@angelika_rainer) on Nov 22, 2017 at 10:50am PST

British alpinist Tom Ballard established A Line Across the Sky in 2016 and has since seen a few repeats by Jeff Mercier, Gaetan Raymond and Dariusz Sokołowski ​​​​​.Three weeks ago, Angelika repeated Je ne sais quoi D14+; a variation on A Line Across the Sky, which put her in good stead for completing her D15 goal. Despite some long reaches through the steep roof, Angelika completed the 40m route on 22nd November in temperatures hitting a balmy 3° C.

Earlier this year, Angelika ticked French Connection D15-, also at Tomorrow's World crag. A talented competition ice and drytool climber, Angelika finished 2nd overall in the 2017 UIAA Ice World Cup and has won the overall title multiple times in addition to winning World and European Championship events over the years.

Angelika is sponsored by: Berghaus, Grivel and La Sportiva