Laura Pineau has made the second female ascent of Greenspit (8b), the famous Orco crack climb established by Didier Berthod.

Greenspit first saw life as a bolted route, but one that never saw an ascent. In 2003, Didier Berthod removed the bolts and climbed the crack on pre-placed gear, before returning two years later, in 2005, to make a second ascent of the route, this time placing all gear on lead.

Since then, Greenspit has played host to crack-climbing royalty, seeing an early repeat from Nico Favresse, a flash from Stevie Haston (with some gear pre-placed), a second go ascent from Yuji Hirayama, and ascents - and an 8c extension - from Tom Randall and Pete Whittaker.

It took until 2020 for Greenspit to receive its first female ascent, when Barbara Zangerl made an ascent of the route shortly before her partner Jacopo Larcher. At the time, Zangerl described the route as her 'proudest crack climb so far'.

Pineau started crack climbing two years ago under the tutelage of Brittany Goris, who convinced her she should give Freerider a go. A year later, in 2023, Pineau was in Yosemite, having never climbed on granite before.

She honed her technique for a few months, moved on to Squamish to continue her granite apprenticeship, and then returned to Yosemite to make a free ascent of Freerider, sharing leads of the crux pitches with Michael Vaill. She then went on to climb Ray Jardine's The Phoenix (5.13a) - the world's first 5.13 trad route - before making an ascent of Turkey Crack (8a) at Cadarese in July this year.

Greenspit, however, represented a step up. At 8b, it was the hardest route that Pineau had ever attempted, and yet - after first trying in poor conditions in June - she was able to return in September, and, two days ago, made the second female ascent of the famous route.

Speaking on Instagram, she said:

'Just sent one of my dream lines'

'This crack has been on my dream list of cracks since I started trad climbing with Brittany Goris two years ago!'

'What a journey it has been… It was my first time committing fully to the same project for a month. After trying Greenspit back in June with horrible conditions, I was feeling inspired and decided to come back later in September'.

'Thank you Babsi Zangerl for being so badass and paving the way! I cannot wait to see how many other incredible women are going to come to climb this beautiful crack (Caro Ciavaldini, Michelle Voss 😉)'.

'Yesterday the wind picked up, the team was psyched, and the train send started. I did it first, then Marco Sappa sent Pura Pura (the long version) and finally Giacomo Meliffi finished the day with a beautiful send!'

'A big thanks to everyone who came to support me on this project'.