Edmund February found success in both the mountains and academia despite being a climber of color during South Africa’s apartheid. In this story from Alpinist 85, Brandon Blackburn interviews February about how he overcame racist norms to pursue his passions, always playing his own game.
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Emily Harrington becomes first woman to send El Capitan s Golden Gate in a day
Derek Franz
[This story has been updated for accuracy and to include comments from Lynn Hill.]
Emily Harrington leading the Golden Desert pitch (5.13a) near the top of El Capitan. [Photo] Jon Glassberg, Louder Than 11
Late on November 4, Emily Harrington climbed over the lip of El Capitan (Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La) in the dark; she d free climbed all 41 pitches of Golden Gate (5.13b, 3,000 ) in 21 hours, 13 minutes and 51 seconds, becoming the fourth woman to free climb El Cap in a day joining Lynn Hill (who was the first person ever to free climb a big-wall route on El Cap as well as the first person to do so in a day), Steph Davis and Mayan Smith-Gobat and the fourth person to free climb Golden Gate in a day, after Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold and Brad Gobright. (Jordan Cannon added his name to this list when he sent the route in 20:26 on November 16.)