The Broad Beta Podcast
The Broad Beta Podcast and BroadBeta.com are spaces to openly share women’s and genderqueer experiences of climbing, skiing, and other mountain adventures, from the ordinary to the heroic. Our contributors tell stories that foster wildness within, and outside, ourselves. Through these stories, we hope to inspire and empower anyone who listens. Cover photo by @nathannorby of co-founder Jeannie Wall.
The Broad Beta Podcast
Brette Harrington: Don't Let the Winter End - An Interview
Brette Harrington does it all…extremely well. Her resume includes groundbreaking solos, 13+ trad climbs, and mind-boggling alpine and winter climbs, not to mention ski descents, big walls, and hard sport climbs. Only her heart and dedication to excellence match her versatility in the mountains.
As you’ll hear today, Brette has undergone physical and mental hardships on her path to becoming one of the best all-around climbers of her generation. From numerous concussions and breaking her neck as a skier, to losing her life and climbing partner, Marc-Andre Leclerc, Brette has dug deep more than once to come back stronger than before. She is a true visionary and yet still down to earth and relatable. Her ability to articulate what drives her and what she has been through made this one of our most inspiring interviews to date.
In 2013, at the age of 23, Brette gained international climbing fame when she free soloed 2,500-ft Chiaro di Luna (5.11a) in Patagonia. At 32 years old, her first ascents span Alaska, Patagonia, the Canadian Rockies and beyond.
Brette began her outdoor pursuits as a competitive skier in Lake Tahoe. After she broke her neck at the age of 20, she ultimately backed off from competitive skiing and pursued rock climbing. She met Marc-Andre Leclerc in her early 20s, and he introduced her to ice and alpine climbing. The two went on to complete numerous impressive alpine and solo ascents together, as well as various first ascents. In 2018, Marc-Andre went to climb the unclimbed north face of Main Tower in the Mendenhall Towers massif near Juneau, AK, and never returned. Brette shares her experience of grief with us and how she dealt with the loss of her life and climbing partner.
Brette spent the years after Marc-Andre’s death deep in the mountains, continuing to build on the skills she built climbing with him. 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, she climbed the biggest, hardest alpine route of her career at that time: a first ascent of the East Face of Alberta’s Mt. Fay that she and her partners named “Sound of Silence.” The same year, Brette went on to climb a line she and Leclerc had eyed together—an arcing crack on the East Pillar of Torre Egger, Patagonia. She named the 12c, 13-pitch climb “MA’s Visión.” She also completed her third 5.12 first ascent on the Chinese Puzzle Wall, a 500m big wall in British Columbia.
While Brette excels at winter climbing and all things alpinism, she is devoting this winter to climbing rock and living in Las Vegas, building on another set of skills that will allow her to pursue harder alpine objectives in the future.
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Follow Brette on Instagram @bretteharrington
Watch the award-winning film The Alpinist
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Episode hosted by Jeannie Wall and Cat Coe
Production and editing by Cat Coe
Episode music by Holizna Radio
Conclusion music by Rocky Marsiano