Your window into the stories, history, and ongoing work to preserve Yosemite’s climbing legacy.

A Note from the Editor

Yosemite has been making headlines this week. On August 18, Ashley Harrell of SF Gate broke the story: “‘A direct attack’: Yosemite National Park employees furious over firing of scientist.”

Harrell writes:

Three months after a large transgender pride flag appeared on Yosemite’s El Capitan, park officials terminated one employee involved in raising the flag and placed two others on administrative leave.

The terminated employee is scientist SJ Joslin, 35, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. Joslin ran the park’s Big Wall Bats Program and managed wildlife data across Yosemite National Park. A former professional rock climber and author of Yosemite bouldering guidebooks, Joslin had been scaling walls to study bats in Yosemite for more than four years. Because they were still in their “probationary period,” the federal government had broader discretion for dismissal.

“During your trial period, you have failed to demonstrate acceptable conduct,” stated an Aug. 12 letter from acting deputy superintendent Danika Globokar to Joslin, who read portions of the letter to SF Gate.

The story has since been picked up by The New York Times, The Guardian, CBS News, and many other outlets.

This coming Sunday, there is a rally in Yosemite.

Show up to support NPS employees terminated for practicing their free speech. August 24th, 11:30–3:30 PM. Yosemite Valley Exploration Center in Yosemite National Park.

Climbing News

Today, August 22, Yosemite made the news again as climbing publications worldwide shared the release of a new video showing Connor Herson sending Magic Line (5.14c) near Vernal Fall.

Writes Gripped:

In October last year, Connor Herson made the fifth ascent of Magic Line 5.14c in Yosemite. Opened by Ron Kauk in 1996 in a pinkpoint style, the line went unrepeated for over 20 years.

Backbone Media strategist Lucie Rathburn told me in an email:

This send marks the completion of Connor’s quest to tick each and every one of the West Coast’s hardest trad climbs. Just look at his list (in no particular order):

Magic Line 14c, Meltdown 14c, Blackbeards Tears 14c, Cobra Crack 14, Crack of Destiny 14b (2nd Ascent), The Shark 14- (FA), Prayer for a Friend 14a (onsight), New Leaf 13d (2nd Ascent, 2nd Try), Down in Albion 13 PG13, Carbondale Shortbus 13d, Kokanee Corner 13+, Hairline 13+ (FA, 13 pitches, 2000’), Air Sweden 13, Pirate’s Code 14+ (FA, mixed sport/trad), Empath 14+ (on gear), Salathé Wall 13b, The Nose 14a, Kilogram 14- (FA), Gunslinger 14a R, Tainted Love 13d R, Broken Arrow 13d/14a mixed, Top Gun 13d mixed.

To watch the film, with commentary by Ron Kauk, check it out on YouTube.

Weather Update

As of 11 a.m. today (August 22), the National Weather Service has issued an extreme heat warning in El Portal: “Dangerously hot conditions with high temperatures up to 105 expected.”

Mariposa will see temps in the mid to high 90s through Sunday, August 24. The following two days should dip to the low 90s before cooling to the high 80s toward the end of the week.

Other News

This week, we had planned to run a feature on Yosemite and East Side photographer Vern Clevenger, but after some phone tag, the story is delayed.

Instead, we’re highlighting the new IMAX film Girl Climber, premiering August 24, which profiles YCA board member and professional climber Emily Harrington freeing Golden Gate on El Capitan in a single day.

For more background on Harrington, check out my story in Men’s Journal, where I wrote in 2020:

“Her ascent marks the fourth time a woman has free-climbed El Cap in a day, starting with Lynn Hill on the Nose in the mid-1990s, followed by Steph Davis and Mayan Smith-Gobat on Freerider.”

Chris Van Leuven

Editor, Yosemite Climbing Association News Brief

YosemiteClimbing.Org

Emily Harrington Takes Golden Gate to the Big Screen in Girl Climber

“I wanted to do this one because it’s the epitome of big wall free climbing.” – Emily Harrington

On Sunday, August 24, IMAX is releasing a one-night-only screening of Girl Climber at 100 theaters across the U.S., featuring five-time National Champion Emily Harrington and her quest to free El Cap’s Golden Gate. Watch the trailer here.

IMAX wrote in a press release:

Caught between the pursuit of personal ambition and the ticking biological clock of life, a near-fatal fall forces Emily to reckon with what she’s willing to risk. Equal parts gripping survival story and intimate portrait, Girl Climber isn’t just about breaking records—it’s about breaking barriers. Among Yosemite’s legendary boys’ club, Emily isn’t just proving she is the best ‘Girl Climber’—she’s proving she is one of the best. Period.

The 83-minute documentary is directed by Jon Glassberg, who told Climbing:

This is a holistic look at an incredible woman’s life in the adventure world… from the top of Mount Everest to crazy expeditions in Myanmar and ultimately climbing Golden Gate in a day.

Harrington says in the film: “To call yourself a successful climber, you gotta be up on El Cap… It’s a 3,000-foot granite face.”

Golden Gate: The Route

Alex Huber wrote in the American Alpine Journal in 2001 of his first free ascent of the route:

Free climbing on El Capitan: days on a wall, high exposure, awkward chimneys and offwidth stuff, and, last but not least, mostly natural pro—all ingredients for a particularly interesting game. Lynn Hill’s ascent of the Nose was an exploit, an event in the climbing world, an earthquake not just for women but for us all. Her comment, ‘It goes, boys!’ was straight, tough, but nonetheless correct. In a provoking yet charming manner, she passed men’s dominance in climbing and left them behind. She discovered El Capitan from a new angle and demonstrated that there was plenty left to explore!

He then described the new line that became Golden Gate:

On September 20, I started to solo up a new line that escapes from the Salathé at the height of El Cap Spire. The route joins the Heart Route after four pitches. From there, most of the climb is along the original route; only the muddy and wet “Rainy Day Woman” crack is bypassed on the left. On the fifth day of the first ascent, I reached the huge “Fat City” ramp, which is the exit of the Heart Route, and found a fantastic freeclimbing solution to it: a 300-foot flake rips through the highly exposed and overhanging headwall to the left—the perfect exit to the new free climb, Golden Gate!

By October, Alex and his brother Thomas returned and did the route in a single push: 41 pitches, one at 5.13b, two at 5.13a, and five at 5.12.

Harrington on Golden Gate

When I spoke with Harrington and her husband, Adrian Ballinger, for Men’s Journal, she told me about freeing Golden Gate in a day:

“This goal for me was above and beyond being at my limit for this long.”

On moving quickly, she said: “Alex [Honnold] and I simul-climbed to the base of the Monster [pitch 19] in 4 hours. Adrian jugged to Heart [a third of the way up the wall] with food, water, and jackets.”

Adrian added, “I definitely wanted to be there.”

Harrington faced setbacks on the climb. On the 5.13a Golden Desert pitch, she fell twice:

"The first fall, I ripped the gear out. Second fall, I hit my head—I did see stars, but I didn’t lose consciousness. There were a few moments of wondering if I could keep climbing. A part of me started to accept that maybe today wasn’t my day.”

Adrian told me she had never had a serious accident until the previous year, when damp, icy conditions led to a major fall on the same route.

Planet Mountain reported at the time:

On November 24, top American climber Emily Harrington took a huge fall while attempting to climb Golden Gate on El Capitan in Yosemite… Harrington, who had free climbed the 41-pitch outing over six days in 2015, was attempting the route free in a single day with Alex Honnold when she slipped and injured herself. In order to save time, the duo had been simul-climbing, resulting in a fall far longer than usual. Harrington was rescued by YOSAR and released from the hospital the next day.

Risk and Choice

After recovering, Harrington returned to Golden Gate. Though she wore a helmet while training, she went without one for her one-day ascent, she told me:

In a day, you’re moving so quickly, and there are so many places where it can get stuck. At night, with a helmet and a headlamp, it feels heavy. I don’t wear one when I’m at my limit. I’ve been unlucky twice now, but for these really fast days, wearing a helmet makes it quite a bit warmer for me. It was not a decision that wasn’t thought out.”

Beyond the Climb

Sam MacIlwaine wrote in Climbing of Girl Climber:

Braided within Harrington’s narrative are three pivotal, developing relationships: her mentor-mentee relationship with Hilaree Nelson, who passed away in 2022; her friendship with Alex Honnold; and her partnership with her husband, high-altitude mountain guide Adrian Ballinger. All three support her during her attempts on Golden Gate—through belays (Honnold), pep talks (Ballinger), or healthy debriefs (Nelson).

IMAX continues:

The crystal-clear images, coupled with IMAX’s customized theater geometry and powerful digital audio, create a unique environment that will make audiences feel as if they’re along for the climb.

She adds, “I’m excited for what’s next.”