Brette Harrington

Brette Harrington (born 1992) is an American professional rock climber and alpinist based in Lake Tahoe, California and British Columbia, Canada.

She was featured in the 2021 film The Alpinist alongside her late partner, Marc-André Leclerc.

She is best known for the first free solo of the 760 meter (2,500-foot) Chiaro di Luna (5.11a) in Patagonia, for her development of new alpine climbing routes, and as the star of Brette, a Reel Rock Film Tour short film.

Harrington, the daughter of two skiers, grew up in Lake Tahoe.

At two years old, she began learning to ski and competed in slalom skiing from the age of five.

As a teenager, she attended the Holderness School, a boarding school adjacent to the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

While training in slopestyle skiing in high school, Harrington grew curious about rock climbing and joined the school's club.

Harrington's rock climbing activities were centered on moderate outdoor climbing routes at New Hampshire locales like Rumney, Cathedral Ledges, and White Horse.

The club did not compete in climbing competitions.

Harrington notes that club members found climbing "intrinsically special," engaging in its challenge for personal reasons.

Harrington moved to Vancouver, Canada to attend the University of British Columbia.

Initially, she continued slopestyle skiing; however, serious injuries, including a broken neck at the age of 20, sidelined her.

As a result, Harrington began to focus more on backcountry ski touring and climbing around Squamish, British Columbia.

Harrington is an accomplished traditional climber, with completed routes including Grand Illusion on Sugarloaf in Lake Tahoe, and The Free Muir on El Capitan in Yosemite, California.

She is known for her Multi-pitch climbing and big wall climbing, and her ability to develop new lines.

Although the route had been climbed before by Alexander Huber in 2011, she was the first climber, male or female, to do so without the aid of any equipment or protection.

The climb was ranked as one of the ten most legendary free solos to date.

Fellow free soloist, Austin Howell wrote of the climb, "This is hands down one of the coolest free solos ever, and is notable because it's one of the few free solos that have been done on big mountains in Patagonia."

Starting around 2013, Harrington and partner Marc-André Leclerc began exploring and putting up first ascents in the mountains of western Canada.

“Climbing around our home [in British Columbia], a lot of things haven’t been done yet,” Harrington noted.

In 2014, she and Leclerc made the first ascent of Straight No Chaser, a 1500m route (5.11/A1) in the Waddington Range of Canada.

Harrington gained recognition when, in February 2015, she free-soloed Chiaro di Luna (5.11a) on Aguja Saint Exupery, Patagonia.

In 2016, Harrington, Leclerc and Ryan Johnson made the first ascent of the Northwest Turret (5.13a, A2) on Great Sail Peak of Baffin Island, Canada.

According to Gripped Magazine in 2016, Harrington was "one of the world’s leading crack and alpine climbers."

She was noted for her ability to maintain physical and emotional control while undertaking challenging routes, and has gained fans for being a "bright firecracker who carries her joy on her face" and someone whose climbing soul "burns bright."

Harrington was the subject of a Reel Rock Film Tour short film, Brette in 2016. Film-maker Nick Rosen of Reel Rock noted that he found the subject compelling as a story of a huge talent just emerging, "What's special here is that we captured the first year of full-time climbing of a woman who is probably going to be a legend. She's on the trajectory of being the Steph Davis of her generation."

In 2017, Harrington made a failed attempt at Riders on the Storm, on Torre Central del Paine, Patagonia.

She and her climbing partner Mayan Smith-Gobat were able to work on some of the critical crux pitches, but were turned back from the summit by bad weather.

"We were forced to use every technique we knew to get through the ice-covered and often run out climbing. Our goal then changed to just making it through the first half of “Riders on the Storm” in any style possible."

In 2017, she was named one of the top women in sports to watch by Forbes Magazine.

With fellow mountaineer Rose Pearson, Harrington established a new long alpine route, dubbed Life Compass, up the west face of Mount Blane in Canada's Rocky Mountains in May of 2018.

The new route was hailed as "one of the few climbs of this size and grade ever established in the Canadian Rockies by an all-women team."

Two of Harrington's 2018 routes were included as significant ascents that year by representatives for the Piolets d'Or prize, indicating possible contention for the prestigious award.

These were Devil's Paw, completed with Gabe Hayden, in Alaska, and Mount Blane, in the Canadian Rockies, completed with Rose Pearson.

In 2021, Harrington was featured in the film The Alpinist, a documentary following the climbing career of Leclerc prior to his death.

Filming was completed prior to the accident, but Harrington agreed to participate in some additional filming to talk about Leclerc over a year after his death that was included in the final cut.

Harrington's long-time partner, fellow alpinist Marc-André Leclerc, was confirmed dead after going missing during a climbing expedition near Juneau, Alaska in March 2018.

Following Leclerc's death, Harrington devoted two years to working on alpine routes.

In early April 2019, Harrington, Ines Papert and Luka Lindič made the first ascent of a new route, The Sound of Silence on the East Face of Mt. Fay in the Rockies of Alberta, Canada.

The 1100 m route was completed in a fast and light style with one night spent 75 m (250 ft) below the summit.