Kriti Mehrotra
Although Emily Harrington has scaled some of the biggest and hardest peaks across the globe to earn her reputation as one of the best climbers in the industry, she hasn’t lost her humility. In fact, she admits she still gets scared from time to time because 99% of what she does is fall, but she only lets the fear be temporary before pushing herself further and training harder. It’s thus no surprise that she is a dominant figure in her industry, resulting in her not only being the subject of Netflix’s ‘Girl Climber’ but also evolving into an inspiration for many others.
How Did Emily Harrington Earn Her Money?
Emily Harrington was just a young girl growing up in Boulder, Colorado, when she realized she was both very competitive and really good at climbing everything from gym ropes to walls. She hence decided to develop those skills, leading her to become a competitive rock climber before spreading her wings further to try climbing big walls, mountains, and outdoor rocks. She continued down this path even while attending the University of Colorado at Boulder, earning a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs with a focus on politics in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Emily graduated in 2007, by which point she had already secured three consecutive titles in sports climbing at the US National Championship – 2004, 2005, and 2006. She was even the runner-up at the 2005 IFSC Climbing World Championships and the winner at the 2006 Serre Chevalier Invitational before going on to earn 2 more titles. It was in 2008 that she joined The North Face climbing team, subsequently becoming the US National Champion twice more in 2008 and 2009. As if that’s not enough, she secured first place at the 2012 Ouray Ice Festival and third place at the 2013 Ouray Ice Festival.
In the years to follow, Emily stepped away from competitive climbing and decided to focus more on outdoor adventures to really prove her mettle in the industry. She not only summited the highest peak in the world, Mount Everest, in 2012 and Mount Ama Dablam in the Eastern Himalayas in 2013, but also free-climbed the Golden Gate route on El Capitan in Yosemite, California, in 2015. Then, she speed-climbed the sixth-highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyu, with her partner Adrian Ballinger in 2016, and free climbed Solar Flare alongside renowned climber Alex Honnold in Sierra Nevada, California, in 2017.
Emily then made history in 2020 as the first-ever female to free ascent the Golden Gate route on El Capitan, Yosemite, in under 24 hours – she led the way and had Adrian Ballinger and Alex Honnold as partners. As if that’s not enough, she is also the first individual ever to free-climb The American Way route on Pik Slesova in Kyrgyzstan in 2021, and a year later, she made her television debut on HBO’s ‘Edge of the Earth.’ Since then, the climber has explored many more mountains, done several other ascents, and pushed herself further, all the while also evolving into a public speaker. She shares her own stories with the world to communicate universal lessons regarding failure, success, fear, and teamwork.
Emily Harrington Net Worth
Although Emily has understandably kept the details of her earnings private, we do know that her primary sources of income are her speaking gigs, sponsorships, and social media accounts. So, if we take her reputation into consideration, along with the fact that she has close to 500,000 followers across all platforms, we can estimate that she charges roughly $15,000 per partnership post. She also earns a sum through her social media engagements, aka the likes, comments, and shares she receives, and as per our calculations, that sum is close to $5,000 a month.
As for her sponsors, she remains a member of the major outdoor brand The North Face, and is also affiliated with businesses such as La Sportiva North America, Kodiak Cakes, Petzl, Tin Cup Whiskey, and Vuarnet. Coming to her public speaking, since she is an elite athlete who uses her personal experiences to offer insight into some very universal life lessons, we believe she charges between $30,000 and $50,000 per engagement. Taking all these factors into account, along with her potential assets, investments, returns, and expenses as a happily married mother of one with a dog and a home in Tahoe, California, we estimate her net worth to be approximately $1.5 million.
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