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Emily Harrington Sends 5.14s in Spain

Emily Harrington is currently in Oliana, Spain, and has ticked some classics, including Fish Eye 5.14b and El Gran Blau 5.14a.

Harrington had a number of 5.14 climbs to her name, including Waka Flocka 5.14b in Colorado and Tom et je Ris 5.14a in France.

Disclaimer: it's a long one ???? // if you don't care for long-winded captions here's the gist: this is a photo of me climbing a route called Fish Eye (8c/5.14b)? ? at Oliana. It meant a lot to me for variety of reasons ?? // ***full caption continued in comments…..// ~ ? @jonathansiegrist ~ Sometimes we attach too much purpose to achievement and success. We pour our sense of self-worth and identity into situations we interpret as valuable, but in reality we are the only ones who feel the intensity and desire toward such arbitrary benchmarks. We are who we are no matter what we do and who we impress. But sometimes it does matter. Sometimes it makes a difference even though it may not initially appear that way. ~ I climbed my first 8c (5.14b) in 2007, I was 20, it was my hardest route ever. Back then it was kind of a big deal for a woman to climb such a difficult grade, only a handful had ever done so. I did it a few more times, the last being in 2011. It was less of a big deal then, as more and more women were showing their incredible talent and strength in the sport, but it was still kind of noteworthy. I then took a path to explore other forms of climbing, but the desire to maintain a high level in sport climbing was still there, subdued, a bit stifled, but not gone. ~ Today, a full decade after the first time, I climbed 8c again. After years of battling demons only those who have remained dedicated to a passion for over two decades and still find themselves wanting to push further can understand; I dealt with all of the fear, doubt, uncertainty, and questioning, and came away with a send…..[continued in comment]

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Harrington is one of America’s most accomplished all-rounders. She is a five-time national champion, won the Ouray Ice Festival in 2012, sent the El Cap route Golden Gate (a 40-pitch 5.13), climbed Mount Everest in 2012 and has the speed record on Cho Oyu with Adrian Ballinger in 2016.

When talking about her training, she says, “I try to just mix it up. I could never just do one style year-round.

“I know that maybe I don’t perform at as high a level anymore because I don’t specialize, but I am a far better all around athlete now, and that’s what’s most important to me. I am still trying to work out how to train properly, it feels like a constant experiment.”

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