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Climbing world honors Juan Oiarzabal
10:47 a.m. EST Dec 17, 2003
It was a touching tribute fit for a king… “king” of the earth’s highest peaks that is. And that’s just what the Mountain Club of Gasteiz intended when they honored Juan Oiarzabal on December 12th. The occasion? This past fall, Juan became the first person to summit the fourteen 8,000m peaks a total of twenty times when he stood atop Cho Oyu.
The tribute took place in Vitoria-Gasteiz in a hotel banquet room filled with a veritable “who’s who” of the climbing world... some in jeans, some in suits. All in high spirits. Of the short list of ten other climbers who have summited all fourteen 8,000m peaks, five turned out to commemorate Juan’s acheivements, including Krzysztof Wielicki, Alberto Iñurrategi, Um Hong-Gil, Han Wang-Yong, and Sergio Martini. Among the many others in attendance were fellow climbers Edurne Pasaban, Iván Vallejo, Carlos Carsolio and Silvio Mondinelli. All joined together with the mayor of Vitoria and the presidents of the Spanish Mountain Federation in paying tribute to Juan.
While enjoying a short break from the 8,000ers (Juan's climbing plans for the new year include K2 and possibly Makalu, among other things) Juan has been plenty busy lately. Only the day before the tribute, he was awarded Sportsman of the Year by the mayor of Alcala de Henares Culture along with the Sports Community of Madrid and the Youth and Sports of the City Council of Alcala. Today, he’s in Pamplona for a screening of “14 8,000m Mountains,” a documentary of his expeditions to the world’s highest mountains.
Be sure to check out the photos from the tribute ceremony on Juan’s Web site, linked at left. (Click on Noticias, then the December 12th story.)
On October 5, 2003, Juan Oiarzabal stood on the summit of Cho Oyu and completed the ascent of his 20th 8000m peak. Only eleven days before, also on Cho Oyu, he surpassed Reinhold Messner’s record of eighteen 8,000m summits and tied Ang Rita Sherpa’s nineteen summits. Ang Rita has summited four different 8,000m peaks a total of nineteen times, with several repeat ascents. Juan has summited all fourteen 8,000m peaks with repetitions on four mountains.
Juan is planning an attempt on K2 in the spring, and possibly the western pillar of Makalu as well.
Image of 14 8000m summiteers Han Wang-Yong, Um Hong-Gil, Juanito Oiarzabal, Alberto Iñurrategi, Krzysztof Wielicki, and Sergio Martini courtesy of juanitooiarzabal.com
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