Brette Harrington Climbs 270-Metre 5.13d in Italy
The seven-pitch route follows a steep line up a famous limestone wall in Sardinia
American climber and big mountain skier Brette Harrington has sent the seven-pitch 230-metre Mezzogiorno di Fuoco in Italy. The route follows a steep line on Punta Giradili, a wild limestone peak that stands 730 metres above the turquoise sea and white beaches of Sardinia’s east coast.
There are over a dozen lines on the wall with Mezzogiorno di Fuoco being one of the hardest thanks to the 5.13d crux. It was first climbed in 2006 and freed in 2007 by Rolando Larcher. The pitches break down to 5.12a, 5.13d, 5.11b, 5.13c, 5.13a, 5.12d and 5.11d. Harrington was joined by Yosemite climber and photographer Elliott Bernhagen.
This summer, Harrington and Christina Lusti opened a massive new ski line on Baffin Island called Polar Moon Couloir – read about it here. Shortly after Baffin, she joined Sasha DiGiulian and Matilda Söderlund for the second ascent of Rayu, a 15-pitch 5.14 in Spain.
Harrington is known for her bold alpine free-solos and new routes. In the Canadian Rockies, she’s established a number of hard routes in the past few years, such as Aurorophobia 5.13+ in the Wiaparous River Valley with Marc-André Leclerc, Life Compass IV 5.10 M4+ on Mount Blane with Rose Pearson, Just a Nibble M6R 5.10 WI5 14p on Mount Niblock with Dylan Cunningham, The Sound of Silence VI M8 WI5 on Mount Fay with Ines Papert and Luka Lindic, and The Hammer and the Dance VI 5.11X on Neptuak with Tony McLane. In 2021, Harrington freed the 31-pitch El Corazón VI 5.13b on El Capitan.
El Corazón
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