On election night, while most Americans were doom-scrolling听social media into the wee hours, climber was feeling optimistic while racking up at the base of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. At 1:34 A.M., she began her free climb of the听route听Golden Gate, hoping to complete the entire thing in a day.听
鈥淚 knew I was so ready,鈥� says Harrington, who lives in Tahoe听City, California. 鈥淏ut I also knew I鈥檇 need a little luck as well.鈥�
Over the course of the next 21 hours,听13 minutes, and听51 seconds, Harrington motored up the 3,000-foot line, becoming听the first woman to achieve this feat,听as well as only the听fourth woman ever to free-climb El Capitan in a day, on听any route. (In 1994, Lynn Hill听became the first person to free-climb the Nose in under 24 hours. Steph Davis and Mayan Smith-Gobat听have each climbed Freerider, in 2004 and 2011, respectively, in a day.)听
For Harrington, sending听Golden Gate in a day, however, did not come easy or without risk. On one of the route鈥檚 most difficult sections, the Golden Desert听pitch, her foot slipped unexpectedly听and she took a sideways fall, hitting听her head on a protruding crystal of rock听and puncturing her forehead.
鈥淚t looked like a gunshot wound.听Blood was spurting everywhere,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 thought, Oh no, this is it. It鈥檚 over.鈥�
She promptly lowered to the belay anchor, where her partner, 听(鈥淎.B.鈥�), a renowned Mount Everest guide, checked her vitals. After cleaning up the blood and applying a bandage, he determined she was physically OK. The fall, however, really shook Harrington.
鈥淚 was ready to give up,鈥� she says. 鈥淓motionally, I was blasted. But A.B. said, 鈥榊ou should try again.鈥欌€�
Free-climbing听a big wall听such as El Capitan demands that a climber ascend each pitch听in succession, without any falls. As opposed to free soloing, free climbing permits the use of a rope and gear. If a fall occurs, the climber may begin again at the start of the pitch and try once more for it to be considered a success.听Golden Gate, with a difficulty rating of 5.13b, contains 41 pitches total, with the toughest ones awaiting in the final ten, which is partly what makes the听route such a demanding one to free-climb within 24 hours.听In fact, only three other people have succeeded on Golden Gate in a day: Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold, and the late Brad Gobright.
A five-time national sport-climbing champion, Harrington鈥檚 accomplishments span听the gamut of disciplines. She鈥檚 made听multiple significant 5.14 first-female ascents of sport routes, free-climbed some of the hardest big walls in the world, won titles at elite competitions, and proved herself in the realm听of high-altitude mountaineering, with听summits of Everest and Cho Oyu.听
鈥淓mily has always been one of the most versatile climbers,鈥� says Honnold, who belayed and climbed with Harrington on the initial 2,000 feet of Golden Gate before being relieved of belay duty by Ballinger, Harrington鈥檚 fianc茅. 鈥淏y free-climbing Golden Gate in a day, Em has once again shown that she鈥檚 one of the most capable climbers out there.鈥�
This isn鈥檛 the first time Golden Gate has drawn blood from Harrington. In November 2019, she attempted听the route twice. The first time, with Honnold, she ran out of gas on the upper crux pitches. She returned two weeks later, again with Honnold, but took a terrible fall on the first pitch, which ultimately sent her to the hospital with a severe rope burn across her neck. That fall could鈥檝e been much worse, however, as Harrington and Honnold were employing a risky, if common, speed-climbing tactic called simul climbing. When Harrington fell, there was a healthy loop of slack in the rope. Somehow Honnold managed to stop her fall by grabbing onto the whizzing rope with his bare hands.
鈥淚鈥檝e gotten so much shit for not wearing a helmet, mostly from men, even though I wear one 95 percent of the time,鈥� says Harrington, who required stitches for the puncture wound on her forehead after this week鈥檚 fall. 鈥淏ut this is the reality of climbing at your limit鈥攕ometimes you can鈥檛 wear a helmet, because it makes the climbing that much harder. You have to choose your level of risk and accept the consequences. I made that decision consciously, and I would make it again.鈥�
One pitch where a helmet makes the climbing more difficult is the听Monster Offwidth,听whose true difficulty is belied by its 5.11 rating. The听Monster is especially hard for shorter climbers like Harrington, who is five foot two, because it鈥檚 more difficult to gain purchase听on either side of the wide crack. When Harrington first tried the听100-foot pitch, it took her two and a half hours to ascend.听
This week, Harrington came up with a slick solution to climbing the听Monster:听she wore Alex Honnold鈥檚 climbing shoes over her own.
鈥淚 was wearing two pairs of La Sportiva TC Pros,鈥� she says. 鈥淢y shoes听and Alex鈥檚 shoes on top of mine. This made it possible for me to climb the Monster like everyone else听and not be so blasted by the top.鈥�
It was, to say the least, an unconventional tactic. But Harrington credits it with saving her energy for the upper crux pitches听and ultimately helping her succeed in free-climbing the route in a day.
鈥淎s a kid, I was focused on comps and sport climbing, and I didn鈥檛 have much drive for this style,鈥� says Harrington. 鈥淛ust recently, I began to realize this is the epitome of what I love about climbing. So many things can go wrong, there鈥檚 so much uncertainty. But it all paid off yesterday. It was one of those days I鈥檒l never forget.鈥�