It's easy to deduce from the name of the just-released documentary from Red Bull Studios that Emily Harrison is a woman who climbs. More than that though, this talented Colorado native is a lover of big walls and high-altitude expeditions. What the movie title doesn't give away is that she has five US National Champion titles and numerous first female ascents of 5.14 routes under her belt.
She's summited Mount Everest and made a complete ski descent of Cho Oyu – the world’s sixth tallest peak on the China–Nepal border. In 2020 she made history by becoming the first woman to freeclimb the Golden Gate route of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in under 24 hours, making her the fourth woman in history to free climb El Capitan in a day.
It was her fourth attempt, and she did it after a suffering a horrifying fall from El Capitan in 2019, when other climbers, including Alex Honnold, came to her aid.
The Girl Climber film focusses on this incredible career-defining 24-hour ascent of Yosemite’s El Capitan, which cemented her legacy in the male-dominated world of elite rock climbing.
In a revealing social media post, above, Harrington describes the documentary as "a more thorough version of my story".
She describes how climbing Golden Gate in a day was a very "precious and personal" goal, which she says was ultimately "taken away" from her by the media.
"Once I was successful the subsequent perfect storm of media and press let it escape into the world and it no longer felt like my story. Those quiet moments of struggle, fear, and self doubt that were overcome through sheer will power and hard work gave way to stories of heroism and sensationalism only the mainstream media could drum up. It wasn’t mine anymore; it was the world’s story to put on a pedestal and elevate or tear down and pick apart," she says.
However, Girl Climber gives her back the opportunity to tell the story from her point of view. "I could not be more excited, grateful, and admittedly terrified to see it on the big stage," she says.
Unveiled at Telluride Mountainfilm Festival, the documentary focusses on the pursuit of personal ambition and the ticking biological clock of life, as well as the greatest challenges that extend beyond the physical.
Also featured is mentor, Hilaree Nelson - the late ski mountaineer, friend Alex Honnold and her husband, high-altitude mountain guide Adrian Ballinger.
You can watch Girl Climber on jolt.film and see some of her achievements in the short film below.
Get to know Emily Harrington
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