Emily Harrington

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Emily Harrington
Emily Harrington sends Golden Gate (5.13 VI) in El Capitan - 06.jpg
Emily Harrington in 2015
Personal information
Born (1986-08-17) August 17, 1986 (age 37)
Family
PartnerAdrian Ballinger
Emily Harrington climbing Golden Gate (5.13 VI) on El Capitan

Emily Harrington (born August 17, 1986) is an American professional rock climber and adventurer.[1] She is a five-time US National Champion in sport climbing and the first female climber to ascend multiple 5.14 sport climbs.[2] Harrington resides in Olympic Valley, California. She continues to train and expand her skill to become an all-around mountain athlete.[1]

Early life

Emily Harrington was born on August 17, 1986, in Boulder, Colorado.[3] Her competitiveness pushed her to develop her climbing skills from an early age.[4] She began climbing artificial walls and competed with her local gym's climbing team.[4] From there, she became a professional sport climber and expanded into the worlds of rock and mountain climbing.[4]

Harrington studied international affairs with an emphasis on politics in Sub-Saharan Africa at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She graduated in 2007 and joined The North Face climbing team in 2008.[5][6]

Achievements

Harrington has been US National Champion for sport climbing five times.[1] She was also named the North American Sport Climbing Champion twice and placed second in the World Championships in 2005.[3] In 2006, Harrington placed first at the Serre Chevalier Invitational.[3] She won first place in 2012 at the Ouray Ice Festival and has free climbed the Golden Gate route on El Capitan.[1] Harrington summited Mount Everest in 2012 and Cho Oyu in 2016.[4][7] Emily Harrington has made multiple first female 5.14 ascents and has been on expeditions all over the world.[1] She has attempted big wall free climbs and high altitude climbs in Nepal, China, Myanmar, Crimea, and Morocco.[1] In 2016, she summited Cho Oyu (sixth tallest peak in the world) in a record speed of two weeks and completed a ski descent from the summit.[6]

In November, 2020, Harrington became the first woman – and the fourth climber overall – to free-climb El Capitan via Golden Gate, the 3,000 ft (910 m) granite wall in Yosemite National Park, in a single day.[8] She completed the mammoth task in 21 hours, 13 minutes and 51 seconds.[9] She was assisted on the ascent by Alex Honnold. She had attempted this climb in 2019, but it ended in a 50 ft fall and a concussion.[10] The media mistakenly reported her achievement as the "first woman" to free climb the mountain in under 24 hours, ignoring the achievements of Lynn Hill, Steph Davis, and Mayan Smith-Gobat on other routes before her; it was later corrected.[11]

In 2021, Harrington achieved the first individual free climb of The American Way route on Pik Slesova in Kyrgystan. In 2022 Harrington and Adrian Ballinger were featured as part of HBO's show ‘Edge of the Earth’ where HBO initially claimed they were ‘Attempting the First Free Climb Ascent of a Route on Pik Slesova in Kyrgystan.'[12] However, they repeated a free route previously established by team NiK Berry, Eric Bissel, Brent Barghan and Dave Allfrey in August 2019.[13] The route was subsequently repeated two weeks after the first ascent. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time media outlets have misrepresented accomplishments in climbing.[14]

Harrington has been featured in National Geographic Adventure blog, Women's Adventure Magazine, Rock & Ice Magazine, Urban Climber, The North Face, The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and Outside Magazine.[15][16]

Harrington has sponsorships with The North Face, La Sportiva, and Petzl.[1][2][3]

Awards

  • US National Sport Climbing Champion x5[1]
  • North American Sport Climbing Champion x2[3]
  • 2005 World Champion-Runner Up[3]
  • 2006 Serre Chavalier Invitational Champion[3]
  • 2012 Ouray Ice Festival Champion[1]
  • 2013 Ouray Ice Festival, 3rd place finisher[17]

Ascents and expeditions

Notable Climbs

In 2012, Harrington was asked to join a joint expedition with The North Face and National Geographic to climb Mount Everest.[22] The expedition marked the beginning of her mountain career.

Two years later, in 2014, Harrington attempted to climb Hkakabo Razi, the tallest peak in Southeast Asia. This peak had only been climbed once before and Harrington's team intended to create their own route rather than follow that of the previous expedition. Harrington made it to the final route that would reach the summit, a climb that she described as "extremely difficult" and "extremely scary."[4] Ultimately Harrington was unable to complete the route due to her own exhaustion and because it was too advanced for her climbing skills, leading her to choose to turn back.[4]

In November 2020, Harrington became the first woman to free climb El Capitan via Golden Gate in under 24 hours.[23]

The year before, while practising the El Capitan climb, an accidental 50 ft fall required her to be rescued.[24] During the 2020 climb, Harrington slipped and fell, leaving her with a gash on her forehead.[25]

Personal life

Emily has been in a relationship with Adrian Ballinger since 2012; they were married December 11, 2021 in Ecuador.[26][27] Emily and Adrian met on a climb of Mount Everest.[28] She lives in Squaw Valley, California.[29]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Emily Harrington - La Sportiva North America / La Sportiva North America". www.sportiva.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Emily Harrington". TheNorthFace USA - English. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Emily Harrington | Team Petzl - Petzl USA". www.petzl.com. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Total Failure: The Mountain That Got Away". NPR.org. Retrieved December 2, 2017.
  5. ^ "Get That Life: How I Became a Professional Rock Climber". Cosmopolitan. February 1, 2016. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  6. ^ a b "Emily Harrington | The North Face Climbing Athlete". www.thenorthface.com. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  7. ^ "Everest Climb Successful, Despite Crowds, Unrelenting Winds". May 26, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  8. ^ Johnson, Lauren (November 8, 2020). "Emily Harrington becomes the first woman to free-climb El Capitan in under 24 hours". CNN. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  9. ^ Ben Church. "US climber Emily Harrington makes history on El Capitan". CNN. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  10. ^ park, Staff and agencies in Yosemite national (November 7, 2020). "Emily Harrington becomes fourth woman to free-climb El Capitan in a day". the Guardian. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  11. ^ Bisharat, Andrew (November 10, 2020). "Emily Harrington Did Something Amazing. Then the Press Blew It". Outside Online. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  12. ^ "TGR X HBO Present: Edge of the Earth Official Trailer". Archived from the original on June 21, 2022. Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  13. ^ "The American Way: The Free Agent of Pik Slesova's Northwest Face". Retrieved July 30, 2022.
  14. ^ "Let's Discuss Emily Harrington and "The American Way" Controversy". August 4, 2022.
  15. ^ "Exploring the Birthplace of Sport Climbing in Europe's Grandest Canyon". Beyond the Edge. July 30, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  16. ^ The North Face (August 7, 2012), The North Face 2012 Speaker Series Presents, Emily Harrington, retrieved March 6, 2018
  17. ^ "Emily Harrington". TheNorthFace Canada - English. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  18. ^ a b "Meet the Couple Who Met on Everest and Just Speed-Climbed the World's Sixth-Tallest Peak". Vogue. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  19. ^ "Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley". www.himalayandatabase.com. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  20. ^ "Women Can Send Big Walls Too: Emily Harrington Crushes El Capitan". Outside Online. June 30, 2015. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  21. ^ The North Face (January 25, 2017). "The Incredible Hulk - Emily Harrington and Alex Honnold Free Climb "Solar Flare" (5.12d)". Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  22. ^ Favorite, Crowd (May 26, 2012). "National Geographic and The North Face® Expedition to Mount Everest Reaches Summit". National Geographic Partners Press Room. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  23. ^ "Outside Online". November 6, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
  24. ^ Schaffer, Grayson (November 26, 2019). "Inside Emily Harrington's Scary Fall on El Capitan". Outside. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  25. ^ Johnson, Lauren M. (November 9, 2020). "Emily Harrington becomes the fourth woman to free-climb El Capitan in under 24 hours". CTV News. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  26. ^ "Emily Harrington and Adrian Ballinger: Superhuman Couple Shares Their Humanity". February 13, 2020.
  27. ^ "Volcano climbing, kitesurfing, skiing: How a Tahoe power couple celebrated their wedding". December 17, 2021.
  28. ^ "Who is Adrian Ballinger? Meet climber Emily Harrington's boyfriend". November 10, 2020.
  29. ^ "Emily Harrington". RXR Sports. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
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