"During 21 days, I was living on the wall and suffering the bad, bad weather," Vidal wrote in an email. (The "bad, bad weather" comprised 12 days of snow.) Still, Vidal climbed daily as much as she could until "my hands and my head said stop," except for one full day (and countless hours of the others) trapped inside her portaledge, where things started to get a bit loopy. "[That's when] the crazy thoughts came to me," she said. "I was trying to imagine which was life's color. And for me, at this moment it was lilac." Hence, the route's name.

Vidal carried no radio or phone, and was so laden down with gear and haulbags that the approach to the wall's base from her advanced basecamp took 2.5 hours each time. Vidal stands 5'2" and weighs 95 pounds; she carried two full A5 Grade VII haulbags, 50kg of food and water, a full rack, 280 meters of fixing rope, a dynamic lead cord, and one haul line for Life is Lilac. Vidal recommends that repeat parties bring rivet hangers.