Episode 41 - Emily Harrington
Five time national sports climbing champion, and revered mountaineer, Emily Harrington talks with Chloe Aftel about how competitive climbing has shaped her perspective on life, the world, and her personal truths. Inseparable from her multiple titles that include the phrase, “first woman to,” Harrington discusses her journey in the sport, from starting as a young girl scaling man-made walls to finding herself in life or death moments atop the world’s highest peaks. Along with a superhero-like physicality, Harrington describes how important problem solving, risk-analysis, and intelligent decision making is for the successful climber, and how she has integrated these skills into her adult life. She speaks glowingly of the climbing community, spotlighting camaraderie, an appreciation for the natural world, and a zeal for exploration as key to the life of an adventurer. Unique to Harrington, and developed by a career of taking risks and conquering them, she shares her philosophy on fear, and how this philosophy has changed since starting her family. Through it all, Harrington’s awe-inspiring accomplishments combined with her belief in the value of facing challenges head-on will certainly leave a lasting impression on anyone hesitant to take their next seismic leap.
Moments to look forward to in the episode:
Harrington shares the personal struggles she faced as a woman being in a weight to strength dependent sport and the perspective shift that helped her overcome them
She dives into the process of competitive climbing, emphasizing what fuels her passion for the sport while clarifying the difference between technical and dynamic climbing styles
She discusses how her priorities and relationship to high risk climbing has changed following having a child, and how she navigates being a mother and an adventurer
Emily Harrington is an American professional rock climber and mountaineer born in Boulder, Colorado in 1986. As a youngster, Harrington was ripe with competitive drive, leading her to develop her skills as a climber at a young age. Finding competitive success in the sport, she started as a member of the USA Junior Climbing Team in 1998. At age 16, Harrington won her first of four USA Climbing Adult National Championship in sport climbing. In 2003, she began her studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she graduated with a degree in International Affairs with an emphasis on Sub-Saharan Africa. In between her studies, in 2005, Harrington placed second at the IFSC World Championships. Upon graduating in 2008, Harrington transitioned into professional outdoor climbing, where she has since cemented herself in the world of mountaineering, having achieved the first individual free climb of the American Way route on Pik Slesova in Kyrgyzstan, among other accomplishments. Now, Harrington lives in Tahoe with her husband Adrian Ballinger and their four year old child. She is currently working with Zgirls as a co-leader for a program that empowers middle school girls at the intersection of rock climbing and mental health.
Chloe Aftel has spent her career working in commercial photography, photojournalism, and film. She’s an established name in modern photography with work featured in The New York Times, Mother Jones, Playboy, Dazed & Confused, Vogue Germany, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, and more. Aftel has photographed victims of sexual violence, reported on COVID 19's impact on the trans community, and gained access as the first reporter in COVID wards of the West Coast’s hardest-hit hospitals. She has covered underground abortion providers, the impact of gender pronouns on daily life, and clergy abuse. Aftel's first book, Outside & In Between, is an award-winning anthology covering gender non-conforming people across the United States.
