Silvia Vidal aid-solos monster line on Shipton Spire

Shipton Spire is a bear. It stands 19,308 feet above sea level along the Baltoro Glacier of the Karakoram Himal, and the main faces tower more than 4,000 feet. Some of the climbs earn grade VII, stretching 30-plus pitches up monolithic granite to mixed terrain to summit. Though the tower has gained popularity, it's still a frightening place.

The accomplished wall specialist Silvia Vidal, 36, of Barcelona, Spain, recently stuck her neck out (solo) on a new Shipton line: Life is Lilac, completed over 21 days this July (10 through 30) and clocking in at 2,900 feet, 5.10 A4+. The climb follows the Northeast Pillar, with a few pitches in the middle detouring onto the Northwest Face and the climb finishing at a saddle at around 17,400 feet. Vidal did not summit; she fixed the first 700 feet over the first eight days, hitting the A4+ crux four pitches up - 100-plus feet, a two-day nut to crack. From there, she cast off, mostly aiding because her Soloist self-belay plate worked best for that and to preserve energy, for hauling.

"I din't free more, in middle part of the route, basically because I couldn't," Vidal said. "The weight of all the gear.... I was carrying everything! It was also very cold and the frozen rock was better suited for aid climbing. The lower part is real hard aid, that's what I was looking for... "