A few years ago, we started watching free soloing (Editor’s Note: Free Soloing is a style where you are only allowed to use climbing shoes for grip and chalk for the hands. No safety equipment is use to catch climbers if they fall. This is different from those that do Free Climbing where your hands and feet are used to move up a rock, but you still use ropes and safety gear to catch you if you fall.) within a number of documentaries. Emily Harrington is a 5X US National Champion in competition lead climbing, runner-up in the 2005 IFSC climbing World Championships, and has made the first female free ascents of several routes. In 2020, she became the fourth woman to free-climb the 3,000 ft (910 m) granite wall of El Capitan (Editor’s Note: This is the largest exposed granite face in the world in Yosemite National Park, California. Generally climbers take between 2-5 days to climb this wall and sleep suspended over the Yosemite Valley. Alex Honnold, a professional rock climber who became world famous for completeing the first ropeless free solo climb of El Capitan and was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo) via the Golden Gate route, in a single day. She completed this task in 21 hours, 13 minutes and 51 seconds.

ATHLEISURE MAG: In prep for this interview, I watched Girl Climber, which was an incredible documentary and I love seeing your journey. We get to see that you were introduced and played a number of different sports growing up. What drew you to rock climbing and what is it about the sport that makes you so excited about it?

EMILY HARRINGTON: I think for me, when I first experienced climbing, I was 10 years old and I had been a ski racer and a gymnast. Those were sort of my two main things before I was 10 and I discovered climbing on a little artificial wall. I think I was naturally quite good at it because I was a gymnast, so I had some strength, flexibility, and body awareness. But I really liked the problem-solving aspect of climbing. It was different from gymnastics, which can be a bit rigid and kind of regimented. In climbing, you kind of get to solve your own puzzle. You get to find your own way, and it’s very expressive, and it can be very creative. I really enjoyed that aspect of it. I felt quite a bit of fear when I first climbed so I sort of felt the exposure and felt the air under my feet, but I was able to keep going and keep climbing! For me, I think that felt pretty empowering as a young girl.

So you know, immediately after I climbed for the first time I just said to my dad, I want to do this more. How do I do this more?

AM: Obviously, it’s a total body workout when you’re doing it. But what are workouts that you do to optimize yourself to be able to really do all the things you need to do?

EH: So I spend a lot of time in the climbing gym, which is the best way to train for climbing. You know, you’re doing climbing movements. It really distills the whole thing down. So most of my training is done in a climbing gym. I lift weights a little bit more for injury prevention. As climbers, we do a lot of pulling, so I try to do some pushing as well in the gym to sort of balance things out. I also really love running. I like trail running. It’s good for your fitness, but then obviously I think for me mentally, it’s really good. It’s very meditative. I really enjoy trail running. We have a lot of trails near my house, and so that’s kind of like the sport that I do on the side a little bit. And then I ski a lot in the winter, actually.

AM: Wow.

EH: So I think it’s kind of nice to have these different activities because climbing can be very hard on your body, and I think it’s important to kind of like mix up the activities a little bit. So I do a lot - gym climbing, a little bit of weights, and I stretch. I try to stretch. It’s hard for me. And I do some very specific strength training for my fingers.

AM: When you’re thinking of sports, there’s these set seasons. The NBA is around the corner. NFL just started. So from a climbing perspective, are there competitions or other things like that that you’re doing in addition to taking on the solo challenges that you create that are independent of the schedule?

EH: I mean, climbing, there is a competition aspect. I used to do competitions a lot. I don’t compete anymore, but it’s its own thing. As you know, It’s actually an Olympic sport.

AM: Exactly.

EH: It’s been in the last two Olympics. I love competition climbing. I follow it super closely. It’s very difficult. It takes a lot of sacrifice. Like nowadays, if you want to be a high level competition climber, that’s all you can do is train for competitions.

AM: Wow.

EH: Climb in the gym. So yeah, there’s a season for World Cups and Olympics and all of that. And then, in terms of outdoor climbing, there’s certain areas that climbers travel throughout the year and there’s seasons based on that and it kind of depends on what you want. The beauty of climbing is it is very much a lifestyle sport much like surfing or skateboarding or whatever you can do without competing. It can still be very meaningful and you can still do things with it and that’s more like the side that I’m on now. So I have specific goals in specific places. Some of them are locally and then some of them are in other parts of the world and I’ll just kind of base my training off of what my goals are and what objectives I want to do outside.

AM: That’s amazing. In watching the film, it’s interesting that it spans a lot of years. So what led to you deciding that you wanted to release this into the world and to show everything that goes on it. There’s a lot of vulnerability, frustration, challenges, and then kicking it into the next level. What made you want to put all of that out there?

EH: I mean, when it started it didn’t happen, like, that. That wasn’t exactly how it was going to be. I was filming with my friend Jon Glassberg on this project and he was just filming for who knows what? Maybe it was going to be a The North Face piece? We didn’t really know what it was for. So, you know, he was just sort of filming the story. And for me, I think I didn’t really think about it like that. I didn’t think about that it was showing my vulnerability. I think that’s just sort of how I am and I appreciate those kinds of stories. I think they’re very honest. In addition, it was just my friend Jon filming. So I didn’t really think much about where the footage was going to go. It was more like, it’s just me and my friend going out and he’s shooting me and that’s a part of my job. It’ll be cool to tell the story. So I didn’t really have those thoughts of like, “oh my God, you’re going to see this. What’s it going to be like?” I just didn’t think of it like that, honestly.

AM: When I first started to know more about this sport, it was through seeing Alex Honnold in his documentary, Free Solo. It was also the first time that we know about El Capitan and how important it is in the climbing community! Why does everyone like that particular mountain? Why did you want to do it as a free climb?

EH: Yeah, that mountain. It’s the most iconic big wall in the world. It’s really difficult. It’s really beautiful and sheer and it’s super historic. Climbers have been going there to test themselves for decades. And it’s interesting because it not only is it one of the biggest and most beautiful and most difficult, but it’s actually like... It’s right there off the road. It’s not like in some far away place. It’s not at high altitude. It’s not in like Kyrgyzstan or Pakistan or these other places where there are walls like that, but they’re just much more difficult to get to. The travel is complicated. This is in California. And so the accessibility of it makes it super famous. And the quality, it’s just very high quality. And every rock climber knows about El Cap. Everyone knows the history of it. And so everyone sort of aspires. climb up there.

I think one unique part of its history is that the first person to free climb El Cap in under 24 hours was a woman and her name was Lynn Hill and she did it in 1993 I think so a really long time ago and she had already done that when I started climbing I knew who she was and I just felt like the fact that this like really groundbreaking achievement and really meaningful achievement was sort of pioneered by a woman was really important and immediately I felt like climbing was a cool space for women and girls to excel at and I think for me that was just like something that stuck out in my mind as something that was inspiring and you know as I grew older and developed as a climber and started going outside getting more out of competitions and thinking about what my goals and objectives were going to be, El Cap was there because that’s just, it carried so much meaning.

AM: When you know that you’re going to do a climb, what is an average week like leading up to that in terms of you preparing, whether mentally or physically?

EH: Well, the week before, you’ve basically already done all the work. So it’s kind of about resting and recovering and kind of just like any sporting event like you’re kind of tapering at that point and getting mentally ready and hopefully you’re you know sleeping well and rested and then getting all the logistics in place for an attemp like that. You need everything to kind of fall into place - the weather and all of that so there’s a lot that goes into it but hopefully like the training part is over by the time you get to that week.

AM: You’re a 5X US National Champion and you have summited Mount Everest. What is your thought process like when you’re like to get all this gear on and tackle this big wall?

EH: I think you try to not think of it like a big wall. You try to think of it as just one move at a time. It’s about being present and thinking about what any athlete would do. You’ve been at the US Open this week, they’re thinking about one point at a time. Thinking about a whole entire match, that’s too daunting. Of course, they know they’re going to play a whole match! Of course, I know i’m going to climb the wall, but I’m not thinking about it in its entirety because that doesn’t mentally help you! You’re just really trying to be present and focus on what’s right in front of you and taking it one step at a time. So, I think that that is actually hard to do that. It takes a lot of training, practice, and mental preparation in order to do that. But for me, anytime I climb something difficult, it’s about trying to be very much in that moment. I know that I’ve prepared for the moment and that I’m ready. Having a lot of trust in that is really important. So having that confidence, I’m ready for this. I deserve to be here. I’m going to try to be as present as possible.

AM: Well, you trained with Alex in portions of your journey when you were focused on El Cap. How did you guys meet, and what did it mean to you to have him as part of that portion of your journey?

EH: Alex has been a friend of mine since we were really young. I was probably like 18 when I met Alex, and he was 19, so we were kids. It was be fore he was Alex. He was just a climber - a young climber and through the years, we kind of peripherally spent time around each other climbing in the same areas and then he joined The North Face team around the same time I did. That’s when we really started to climb together and hang out more and go on trips. So yeah, we have a history of climbing together and knowing each other really well. So that was really helpful to have him as a partner for that reason. Just that personal connection. And then also, he’s one of the best climbers in the world and in particular, he’s one of the best climbers on El Cap. That’s a very specific skill set that you need. And he’s probably done more than almost anybody up there. He’s one of the most comfortable people in that environment. It’s very much his happy place. He loves being up there so having that attitude and that positivity was really helpful for me and he’s actually a great supporter in several ways. He’s super honest so you know that what he’s telling you - he’s not blowing smoke! You can really trust that and so we had that mutual trust. You knew he was going to say exactly what he thought and that was actually really helpful and i’m really grateful for his friendship and support throughout my career.

AM: You could really see that bond between the two of you because he said what he said and that was it!

EH: With Alex, you know exactly what you’re going to get. There’s no fluff and he’s not going to bullshit you. It’s just like that is what it is. I do appreciate that.

AM: You had various attempts climbing El Cap. You had a 50 foot fall that I was so triggered by it that I had to pause the film for a bit. We kept thinking, “my God, how mentally can you come back and say, you know what? I’m still going to do this again?”

EH: I get asked that a lot, and I think it’s interesting because it never occurred to me not to try again. And I think that was because, you know, as climbers, we’re very used to failing, so that really, the whole failure part wasn’t really a part of it. And then in terms of, like, the accident, it was the worst accident I’d ever had in my career, and it was really traumatic. I don’t watch that part of the movie. Like, I don’t need to see it over and over again. But I think the key for me was I recognized the series of decisions that I made that put me in that position that made it dangerous.

And I recognized that it was a lot of my own doing and that in the future, I could avoid that. This wasn’t, like, a random accident. It’s not like, oh it could just happen again at any moment. No, actually, I could make decisions to change the situation and then it won’t happen again. So I took responsibility for it and then I was like okay, well now moving forward I’m going to avoid being in that situation and there’s a lot of ways to do that. So I had a lot of confidence moving forward! I got lucky and I learned a lot from that and I’m going to make a different decision moving forward.

AM: That’s amazing as going through something like that was just something that couldn’t be unseen and it was very cool to see you go back again!

In that last attempt, it was great to see that you had a literal crew that was there. Your husband, Adrian Ballinger (pro mountaineer and founder of Alpenglow Expeditions) was also there. What did it mean to you to have him part of your training and just being there?

EH: It was super special. It was really fun to feel like I had a team around me and feel like everyone was being really supportive and really wanted me to succeed. But at the same time, I didn’t feel that much pressure because we’re all climbers and we all know how it goes. And we know that failure is such a part of it. It was a great environment to try hard. And Adrian is one of my biggest supporters. He’s like so good at that. He’s just so wonderful when it comes to being that person. Without them, I just I don’t think it would have been possible.

AM: To go after this for so many years and to finally be able to achieve that dream that you climbed El Cap, what did that mean to you? It must have been so many levels at play there.

EH: Yeah there’s a lot of levels. A lot of times, after you do something like that, I think you hear a lot of athletes talk about there’s a bit of emptiness.

AM: Right.

EH: You had so much direction for so long and you can achieve this thing and you can be so psyched but at the same time, you can feel sort of empty and sort of like what’s next? Some people think that they thought this would make them feel one way and maybe it didn’t. You know, you think it’s going to solve all your problems and you’re going to be satisfied and you’re going to be happy. None of that is true. Like no amount of gold medals or whatever can make you feel like completely fulfilled I don’t think.

So I think learning that was a big part of the process because I did feel a little bit – lost I think. It wasn’t until years later, actually, when the movie actually came out that I was like, oh, “actually, that was so cool that I did that.” I really tried hard and I put all this effort. So I think I needed a bit of space between it in order to come full circle and be really proud of what I did. And now I’m at the point where I’m like quite proud of it. And it did take a lot of effort and I do recognize that now. But when you’re really close to it and you’re really in it, sometimes it’s hard to recognize that.

AM: What do you want viewers to see whether they are a climber, an enthusiast, or just someone that enjoyed watching something about resilience?

EH: I think they do see the resilience. I hope that they see the resilience and that they’re inspired by that, whether they’re a climber or not. I think it’s just a very human story about failure and struggle and all of these emotions that we tend to avoid in daily life.I think that actually confronting those things and sort of existing in that space with those uncomfortable feelings is something that we all should do a bit more of. We can learn a lot about ourselves and we can grow as humans through that. So, I hope they’re inspired to try hard things, fail, learn from failure, struggle, feel fear and sort of understand fear and risk and things like that. I hope they also see that story of partnership, friendship, leaning on your people for help, and recognize that as a very valuable part of the human experience as well. Lastly, I think it’s a cool story about rock climbing. I hope people who maybe never have seen climbing before are inspired to maybe check it out or learn a little bit about it because it is a really beautiful sport and it is something that is for everyone. It is something anybody can experience now! Any urban center has so many climbing gyms. People can literally walk in just experience the movement of climbing!

AM: We see a little bit of in the movie that over the years, you focused on the challenge of El Cap, but you were still doing other climbing and expeditions. What have been some of those projects since this movie came out?

EH: I’ve done a lot! I mean it’s been 6 years now. I continue to climb and I’ve had a lot of goals - nothing quite as all-consuming as Golden Gate. Thankfully, climbing is a sport that you can find all these different ways to challenge yourself. I’ve traveled a bit since then.

I actually went to Kyrgyzstan the next year and climbed a big wall there. I’ve gone back to Yosemite and climbed some things and done some hard routes around the world for me. I had a kid, so there’s that too. But yeah, I just continue to climb and find unique and interesting things that I’m curious about and ways to push myself. I just continue to do more of the same, essentially.

AM: Earlier this year, I enjoyed watching Alex do Taipei 101 and hearing your commentary on Netflix’s Skyscraper Live. What did it mean to you to be a part of that moment? I mean, it was so gripping!

EH: It was so fun, honestly. It was so cool. I’m so glad I got to go there and be a part of it. It was, of course, stressful. But at the same time, I just knew Alex so well. I just knew how within his ability it was, despite still being quite serious. There’s still nobody that can do what he did without a rope right. I knew that the climbing was so within his ability, but of course it’s stressful and of course none of us had ever been a part of anything like that before. The live aspect was great, but honestly it was so fun because almost every person on that job – I mean climbing is such a tight community. In order to pull off something like that you needed camera people who were climbers. You needed people who were rigging the whole scene to be climbers. And so basically every person on that job was a dear friend of mine and of ours. So it just felt like we were all having this crazy life experience all together as friends. And it was just so fun. You know, it’d be like having your best friends with you to do this crazy cool thing that just so happened to be like on live tv right but like you’re all experiencing it together. I’m just so grateful that we got to be a part of it.

The camera guys worked so hard they were out there. I was just commentating it which wasn’t that hard. The camera guys were just out there for weeks, all day, every day trying to figure it all out make sure they weren’t going to be in his way. All the logistics of it even the guy flying the drone, the helicopter, everything - every person that had a camera in their hand was a friend and it was awesome!

AM: Do you have any other projects coming up that we should keep our eye out for?

EH: It’s more core climbing stuff, a little bit nerdy. I have a lot of local things. I live in Tahoe, so there’s a lot of climbing there. And I’ve been trying to push myself and challenge myself. We’re going to go to Yosemite again in October. We go quite often. There’s always goals. I would love to go back to El Cap in the next year or 2 and try to do another route up there.

AM: Oh wow! How many routes are on that?

EH: There’s probably 15 to 20 now. Then there’s even more if you count aid climbing. Aid climbing is when you’re placing the gear and pulling on the gear. So there’s aid routes and then there’s free routes. Free is when you’re just climbing your hands and feet. So there’s several different routes. There’s like a dozen or so free routes and they all get climbed on.

AM: Seeing the graphics of what these routes looked like and where you had to go, really drove home what it’s like when you are up there. When you’re not climbing or planning a climb, how do you take time for yourself?

EH: It’s about family time. It’s important to me because I have a 3 year old. I like to chill with my husband and child, we like to cook dinner together, we like to watch shows! I’m actually really trying hard to learn Spanish. That’s my, non-active hobby. I’m really putting effort in it because we do spend a lot of time in Spanish-speaking countries. We go to Spain a lot and all of that. And I’ve been trying to learn for 10 years now. Finally, I was like, okay, this is... going to be my thing. And I have a teacher, so I like doing my homework and I’m trying really hard.

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PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY | Emily Harrington