![Chantel Astorga takes a stoked selfie during her solo ascent of Denali's Cassin Ridge. [Photo] Chantel Astorga](https://i0.wp.com/alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/chantel-astorga-cassin-ridge-1.jpg?resize=930%2C620&ssl=1)
Chantel Astorga completes first female solo of Denali’s Cassin Ridge in 14 hours, 39 minutes
At 8 p.m. June 14, Chantel Astorga became the first woman to solo the Cassin Ridge on Denali (20,310′), completing the route in just 14 hours and 39 minutes. Generations of alpinists have considered the Cassin (Alaska Grade 5, 5.8, AI4) a formidable and coveted objective. Astorga, who works as an avalanche forecaster in Idaho told Alpinist, “I don’t generally solo big routes…. Time alone in the mountains has always been powerful for me in ways I can’t explain. I guess I simply just wanted to feel what it was like to be alone on a technical route in the big mountains and the Cassin Ridge seemed like a perfect fit.”
