Courtesy of Red Bull Studios Emily Harrington looked back on her history-making ascent of El Capitan during an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, a remarkable feat that is now the subject of Red Bull Studios'Girl Climberdocumentary The professional athlete, who became the first woman to top the 3,000-foot mountain in less than 24 hours in 2020, reflected on her life goal and how her relationship with climbing has changed since then Harrington discusses her newfound perspective on the extreme sport since welcoming her first child, resulting in a different mentally that she never expected Five years ago, Emily Harrington made history as the first woman to free climb Yosemite National Park's El Capitan in less than 24 hours — a remarkable feat that not only broke records but also barriers in the male-dominated world of elite climbing. The athlete, then 34 years old, successfully topped the 3,000-foot mountain's Golden Gate route in 21 hours, 13 minutes and 51 seconds just after 11:00 p.m. on Nov. 4, 2020. She accomplished the ascent on her fourth try, having grown stronger both physically and mentally with each attempt. Not even an approximate 40-foot fall and sustained injuries on her third try in 2019 deterred her from forging ahead with her goal — rather, the scary slip was just a stepping stone in her personal journey to achieving her dreams. Almost five years later, Harrington, now 38 years old, looks back in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE about her career-defining ascent that etched her name in history and is intimately documented in Red Bull Studios'Girl Climberfeature film that will be released digitally on June 15. Related:She Never Felt Fulfilled as a Teacher. At 31, She Sold Everything and Started Living in Her Van (Exclusive) Courtesy of Red Bull Studios The gripping survival story explored in the Jon Glassberg-directed doc has viewers themselves hanging on from start to finish as Harrington moves up the granite slab. Fear, though, came in a different form for the climber while watching. "I was super stressed to watch it. I was really scared because it's hard to watch yourself on the big screen," Harrington tells PEOPLE exclusively of viewingGirl Climberfor the first time. "It's very personal... It's a vulnerable personal journey." Harrington praised the film — "it's an objectively good movie," she says — and shared her newfound, unexpected perspective on her history-making accomplishment on El Cap now that almost five years have gone by. Courtesy of Red Bull Studios "I think I'm more proud of it now than I was then," Harrington admits of her under 24-hour ascent. "It's cool now because I'm getting to relive it," she continues, adding, "When you have some distance from things and then you go back and realize what you did... I'm really proud of it." In 2023, Harrington became a mother for the first time when she welcomed her son, Aaro, with her husband Adrian Ballinger. Racing against her biological clock was a prominent theme covered inGirl Climberwhen failure early on caused her to toggle between her athletic goal and moving on with her life. Giving birth to her son, too, has changed Harrington's perspective. Today, she's accomplished both of her dreams: topping El Cap in less than 24 hours and starting a family. Courtesy of Red Bull Studios "Now I'm a mom and I go back to Yosemite and I'm like, 'Oh, wow. That was so big. It's so big and it's just a big undertaking,'" she says while sitting alongside professional rock climber Alex Honnold, who also appears in the film. Honnold skyrocketed to global fame in June 2017 for his history-making free solo ascent of El Capitan (which was dramatically captured in the Oscar-winning documentaryFree Solo). He was also by Harrington's side on her mission — in fact, he inspired it. "It was actually when Alex invited me to climb the Free Rider with him in a day," she says of her goal of completing El Cap's ascent in less than 24 hours. "He was trying to practice to free solo it, so he was just looking for people to go up there with him," she recalls. Related:She Learned the 'Hard Way' When She Became a Shark Diver, but She Still Doesn't Believe Sharks Are 'Monsters' (Exclusive) Courtesy of Red Bull Studios "It was really cool to be up there with someone who's just so dialed and really comfortable and moving so well — and I was inspired by it," she continues. "We got to the top and he was like, 'Oh, you can totally do that in a day!'" And she did just that but on an even more difficult route. Harrington opted against Free Rider and chose the significantly harder Golden Gate route as a "cool challenge" to show her progression. (She had already climbed it in six days in 2015 and considers it her "greatest achievement" at the time.) "It's a really nice sign of personal growth as a climber," Honnold tells PEOPLE exclusively. "I've done the same thing with some of the El Cap pathways... It marks a lot of personal growth to be like, 'This one took me almost a week... Now I can do it in a single day!'" Courtesy of Red Bull Studios When watchingGirl Climber, it's easy to forget that Harrington and Honnold are gripping at ledges with some that are widths of dimes and thousands of feet off the ground. Their comfortability may seem incomprehensible, but they credit each other for their "laid back" manner. "I can get to that place if I'm around people who are also very comfortable," Harrington says. "It's a really good environment for me to be in. So that's why Alex is such a great supporter. When he's up there, he's having a great time. It's one of [his] favorite places to be." Honnold agrees, "I think you always mirror your partner a little bit." Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE's free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Their ability to "desensitize," too, makes them assimilate to their death-defying surroundings. "When you first arrive for the season, I feel like it's really big and it's scary and the exposure is intimidating," Harrington says. "And then as you gradually build up to free climbing it and being up there, you just adjust. Humans actually are adaptable and you just get used to it... You just really do." "It's like one move at a time," Honnold explains. "When you're trying to do one of the hard pitches, you're just focused on each individual move. You're not looking at it like, 'I'm 2,500 feet off the ground.'" Courtesy of Red Bull Studios As she reflected on her El Cap ascent five years ago, Harrington — who's also summited Everest, 8000-meter peaks and dominated the climbing competition circuit to date — revealed that her relationship with climbing as "definitely changed" over the years, which came as a surprise to her. "I always thought that it wouldn't," she tells PEOPLE of her new perspective on the sport she's known and loved since she was a child. "I think I wanted to get that goal finished before I had a kid, because I knew deep down that it would be hard to logistically find the time and commit that much to it." "It was just all-consuming and we wanted a family, and I was 34. I definitely felt the pressure and a little bit of stress of it [being] time to start moving on from this," she shares. "And I think honestly, I felt like that would be the thing that would stop me from continuing, if I kept failing." Courtesy of Red Bull Studios While Harrington ultimately succeeded and went on to raise her 2-year-old son, even bringing him on climbing trips she takes with her husband, she admits that "mentally" she's changed since embarking on her new journey of motherhood. "When you become a mom, I almost feel like it's just biological. I just don't need to do as hardcore stuff as I used to — and I'm fine with it," Harrington admits. "I was really afraid of this happening, and then now that it's happened, I'm like, 'Actually, this is totally great.'" "I feel way more balanced about climbing," she continues. "I feel way more happy with the challenges that I have. I feel super comfortable with pushing myself, but also prioritizing my kid." Courtesy of Red Bull Studios But don't get her wrong! Harrington still "loves climbing" and has "lots" of goals she wants to achieve. "For me, it's this feeling very present and focused on what I'm doing — and I don't think that I get to do that in any other part of my life very much," she says of rock climbing. "It's the feeling of working really hard towards something and seeing it come together is this really powerful emotion." And that, she won't ever let go. Read the original article onPeople
