Ep 201. Brette Harrington on Training to Ascend

The Dr. Greg Wells Podcast - Health, Wellbeing & Peak Performance

Born to a family of skiers in Lake Tahoe, Brette Harrington has become an icon in the world of alpine climbing. She is an accomplished 5.13+ trad climber, calculated soloist, expert ski mountaineer, big wall sender, and graceful mixed climber and her versatility is a testament to her dedication and passion for the sport.

In 2013, at the young age of 23, Brette catapulted to international climbing fame when she daringly free soloed the 2,500-ft Chiaro di Luna (5.11a) in Patagonia. Her exceptional talents earned her the American Alpine Club's prestigious Robert Hicks Bates Award, honoring young climbers with outstanding promise for future accomplishments.

Brette's love for the outdoors began during her youth in Lake Tahoe, where she was raised by avid skiers. She competed in slopestyle skiing throughout high school and college, attending a ski academy in New Hampshire and later studying in British Columbia. However, a series of concussions and a broken neck at 20 led Brette to abandon competitive skiing and explore rock climbing.

By 2017, Brette had set her sights on winter alpine climbing, relishing the mental and physical challenges it presented.

During this time, she opened routes on the Taku Towers on the Juneau Ice Field and made the first ascent of Life Compass (IV 5.10a M4+) in Alberta. In 2019, Brette tackled the most formidable alpine route of her career: a first ascent of the East Face of Alberta's Mt. Fay, which she and her partners dubbed "Sound of Silence."

As Brette looks to the future, she is excited about expedition climbing, particularly in Peru and Pakistan. However, she finds immense satisfaction in the Canadian Rockies, where the loose limestone helps her address her weaknesses and the relief presents Himalayan-scale prominence without the high altitude.

The vast, unending range offers a lifetime of technical climbs, and for Brette, the more technical, the better.

Enjoy this episode!