The first people to ascend Presanella over the steep North side were Johann Kederbacher Grill and Bonifacio Nicolussi guiding Bruno Wagner and Edward Kratky. On 4 August 1881, over a period of 13 hours, they climbed over the Presanella glacier to the Bocca di Presanella and ascended the Northeast ridge. The first ascent over the 550 m North face was by the Aostan climbers Emilio Brocherel, Ugo Croux and P. Arici in 1906.