“Free climbing El Cap is the very definition of hard rock climbing!” Insightful words from The North Face & Petzl Athlete, Emily Harrington.
Earlier this year, having been trad climbing for only three years, US climber Harrington, listed her ambitious goals for 2015. This bold check-list consisted of reaching the finals of the US Sport Climbing Nationals, completing an 8b+ sport project, submitting Makalu (8463m) without oxygen and free climbing Golden Gate (5.13b) on El Capitan!
The magnetic pull of El Capitan’s ‘Golden Gate has driven her to recently go for the climb. 6 days and 40 pitches later, she stood on the summit with broken skin, aching muscles and a smile that stretched across Yosemite Valley as she ticked that goal off of her list. The feat is even more impressive when you consider that she only started to trad climb three years ago!
In this awesome video by Jon Glassberg and Louder Than Eleven Productions, Emily shows us that it’s just as much about the journey as it is the destination. The video follows her journey up the route, showing plenty of emotion and grit that inevitably comes packaged with a climb of this magnitude.
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