Emily Harrington fall on El Cap

I saw this article on cnn.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/26/sport/emily-harrington-climbing-fall-el-capitan-spt-intl/index.html

I was surprised to see no mention of it here, did my search-fu fail?

I was wondering if there was any more climber based info. General news outlets don't usually have the perspective and details I care about.

She posted about it on Instagram. Sounds like a fall where she bounced off a couple things on the way down and then got gnarly rope burn on her neck.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5TJbpOBEvR/

She described climbing the 'Monster' offwidth 2 insta-posts ago by sliding a #6 up with her as it's the only pro you get, and then realizing that the #6 wasn't clipped into the rope that whole time, then contimplates doing it next time without the #6 altogether. I wonder if she actually tried it without the #6 this time? I hope not, that'd be a wicked big fall...

I wonder if that would explain the "pin balling". However, I would think an offwidth would be too small for what i imagine as pin balling.

More here - https://gearjunkie.com/emily-harrington-fall-el-capitan-honnold-ballinger

Follow the link, info appears to be by climbers and 1st hand knowledge folks

amarius wrote: More here -

Follow the link, info appears to be by climbers and 1st hand knowledge folks

Here's the corrected link: https://gearjunkie.com/emily-harrington-fall-el-capitan-honnold-ballinger

(MP appends gibberish to a link when you use the insert link function. It's best to just past in the working link and not use the link icon.)

Outside just released a piece with the full details: ​https://www.outsideonline.com/2406158/emily-harrington-fall-el-capitan-yosemite​​​

Basically, she was simul-climbing in the Freeblast section when she slipped, and Honnold was putting on his shoes when she fell but managed to catch her in time.

I just read it, sounds like she fell just before completing the first pitch on freeblast. They are planning on simul-climbing, so hungover so putting your shoes on and had heaps of slack out. Some people might claim it's the belayers fault, but if you're planning on simul-climbing freeblast, you shouldn't be falling on the first pitch.

The risks were compounded by short days and cold temps.  She was climb in sub freezing temps by headlamp

Speed climbing is stupid and dangerous.

JeffL wrote: I just read it, sounds like she fell just before completing the first pitch on freeblast. They are planning on simul-climbing, so hungover so putting your shoes on and had heaps of slack out. Some people might claim it's the belayers fault, but if you're planning on simul-climbing freeblast, you shouldn't be falling on the first pitch.

The risks were compounded by short days and cold temps.  She was climb in sub freezing temps by headlamp

I read it differently. He was belaying w/ a GG and getting ready to simul by putting his shoes on at the same time. There wasn't heaps of slack out. When she fell the rope reversed itself toward Alex, which created the appearance of slack, because she was super runnout.   Slack immediately reversed itself when she got below her last piece.  

Tradiban wrote: Speed climbing is stupid and dangerous.

Well climbing is stupid and dangerous, yet here we all are. 

This story was on the national news tonight, with video no less.  They said she was attempting to become the first woman to free El Cap in a day.  They never get it right when it comes to climbing.  

The description of the belay really makes no sense to me.  
I know that at times when speed climbing big walls the follower is using a gri-gri to control the amount of slack between themselves and the leader, instead of coiling and uncoiling rope.  It never occurred to me that the follower may count on the slow/steady movement of the leader upwards to allow the rope to auto-feed out of the gri, though.
It sounds like maybe that was the thought, but Harrington was still climbing essentially unbelayed on a bunch of rope pre-slacked out while Honnold got ready to climb?  They make it sound like Honnold just bare-handed that slack and stopped her fall, though.  I guess if she was essentially sliding/bouncy down slab, and with his mitts, this could be done?  I'd think he would still get some rope burn, but maybe not.  

Glad she is mostly OK.  That rope burn around the neck is pretty terrifying.  
All-in-all, about the best outcome possible from such a fall, and a pretty good crew of people to have right around you to get to you and lend aid.  I doubt anyone could have climbed that pitch faster than Honnold, and I imagine Ballinger is pretty cool and calm in these situations given his alpine chops.

Erroneous Publicus wrote:
I read it differently. He was belaying w/ a GG and getting ready to simul by putting his shoes on at the same time. There wasn't heaps of slack out. When she fell the rope reversed itself toward Alex, which created the appearance of slack, because she was super runnout.   Slack immediately reversed itself when she got below her last piece.  

[edit] Seeing this now.  This makes sense.  But, still Honnold bare-handed that slack after it fell and before the rope started going back up as she fell?  That is pretty wild.  

I can't imagine catching a large lead fall by grabbing the rope bare-handed. Either that Climbing article missed something, Honnold has some serious rope burn right now, or he's got more superpowers hidden away than we knew about...

Maybe he got in a quick hip belay or something? Or just vice grip hands I guess..

Anson Pontynen wrote: I can't imagine catching a large lead fall by grabbing the rope bare-handed. Either that Climbing article missed something, Honnold has some serious rope burn right now, or he's got more superpowers hidden away than we knew about...

Maybe he got in a quick hip belay or something? Or just vice grip hands I guess..

A fall can be caught with bare hands.  Especially with a lighter climber.  

Ralph Swansen wrote:

A fall can be caught with bare hands.  Especially with a lighter climber.  

It depends on friction through gear and how much energy was absorbed by the climber bouncing down lower angle rock as well.  Catching this with his hands seems reasonable - especially after seeing her face!  I don't see anything out of line in that story.  Glad she's okay.

Alex Honnold is a great climber but he's never struck me as the dude I'd want holding on to the other end of the rope.   Wasn't he ....dicking around with the rope somehow....when TC took his 100'er on El Cap too?

Darin Berdinka wrote: Alex Honnold is a great climber but he's never struck me as the dude I'd want holding on to the other end of the rope.   Wasn't he ....dicking around with the rope somehow....when TC took his 100'er on El Cap too?

He’s not exactly going for the climbing safety award of the year. He’s involved in pushing some serious limits of what these top athletes can do. It’s not like sport climbing at your local crag. 

Whats the time savings on Not belaying the leader on the Very First pitch?   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Expert climbers are pushing the envelope further and further out.  We've had (at least) six serious falls by some of the best climbers in the country, all associated with either simul climbing or short-fixing.  I used to think that expertise in climbing conferred safety advantages, but the contemporary vision of new frontiers has made climbing more and more dangerous for the best climbers, who have to embrace increasingly risky protocols with intensely thin margins to fit their goals into a single-day framework.

 
Will Gadd, in a recent piece on ice climbing in Gripped Magazine, said "...eventually, you're going to fall."  He was speaking of ice, not rock, but on rock Derek Hershey fell.  John Bachar fell. Jason Wells fell. Quinn Bret fell. Hans Florine fell. And now Emily Harrington fell.  There have been others, I just mentioned some of the ones that lead to injury or death.

I wonder whether the sport, as practiced at its ordinary levels, has become too safe, with one possible antidote being huge doses of risk for those who want to excel.  I'm glad that Harrington is going to be ok.  She'll be back for another try.  Hope all goes well then.

I think elite climbers inhabit a different world from the rest of the climbing community.  They are going to follow their passions, and the rest of us will be in awe---and perhaps in mourning. Still, I think "the rest of us" would do well to attend to Gadd's pronouncement:

...eventually, you're going to fall.

Ralph Swansen wrote:

A fall can be caught with bare hands.  Especially with a lighter climber.  

Well, yeah. And Kamps caught Chouinard on a 150 ft whipper with a hip belay. Pretty sure you don't typically walk away from that sort of thing completely unscathed, though, especially with modern skinny ropes. Even with a lighter climber bouncing down a slab I'd expect some nasty rope burn after a barehanded catch, but I'm not exactly Honnold