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Juanito and Edurne K2 debrief part 1: Beyond the limits
Sep 3, 2004 06: 50 EST
Juanito Oiarzabal and Edurne Pasaban are back home, recovering from the severe frostbite they suffered during their summit bid on the Abruzzi Spur route on K2. They succeeded, but the price was high. Here is part 1(3) of their debrief:
Pending their mood, they say it was worth it, or maybe not. Media has run their story dozens of times: How they were part of one of the bigger teams on K2, and how they were the first to launch their summit bid along with some Italians from the national ‘50 years after’ expedition. The rest of the teams waited to see if the weather was definitely improving or, perhaps, they waited for a trail to be opened and the ropes to be fixed from Camp IV.
For this climb debrief, we have picked a long, brutal interview made by the Basque paper ‘El Correo Digital.’ The interview took place when Juanito and Edurne were still in a hospital bed in Islamabad. When the memories, and the pain, were as fresh as their wounds. This is how both Juan Oiarzabal (48) and Edurne pasaban (30) tell their story of a climb beyond limits. But beware, Juanito is quite ‘expressive’ and doesn't really mind his language so, please, no offense.
Chat from a hospital bed
Juanito and Edurne rest in their beds in the hospital. They are relaxed. Edurne even manages to smile. But they don’t forget that they almost lost their lives. Both agree to chat with El Correo correspondent and let their memories flow, recalling a day which could have ended in a most dramatic way.
Juanito Oiarzabal: We knew the climb would be though. We were due to leave at 1:30 but the Italians, as always, were late and we departed at 2:00. It was a gorgeous night.
How did the problems begin?
J. O: When we climbed the plateau up to the foot of the Bottleneck it started to blow a hell of a strong wind. Very strong.
Edurne Pasaban:It was there, at the beginning of the Bottleneck, where (some of) the Italians turned around. I remember I told Mario (Merelli): ”Stay and wait; perhaps it won’t blow so high in the upper part” But he paid no attention.
In that moment, where you already delayed from your summit plan schedule?
J.O: No, not yet.
E.P: We still had plenty of time. When we entered the Bottleneck we found the snow in good condition.
J.O: Yeah, at first it was OK, but once inside the Bottleneck it fucked up. We started to climb, and had the first quarrel. We all had doubts. But I was the only one who had been there before. I was the one who knew what lay ahead. So I had a little fight with you (pointing to Edurne) when you said: “come on, let’s go up!”. I answered “What the…? Look Edurne, I am the only one here who has climbed this mountain and I know what to do up there and what’s still left, so be quiet and let’s think about what we should do!”
E.P: Juan [Vallejo] then agreed: “Let’s take a look up there, and see how the snow is.”
J.O: OK, let’s go then. I kept up the pace. But we found the worst snow I’ve ever seen in the Himalayas in my whole life. We reached the end of the Bottleneck, we joined Silvio (Mondinelli) who did an excellent job in that section, and other Italians. And then the real trouble started.
J. O: Technically, the most difficult section…It was very steep, on crystal ice with a thin layer of snow over it. So the group were reluctant to proceed. Last year a guy fell to his death right there. But we had gone through a hard moment when I had radioed BC, to the TV program director saying, “Hey, I think we are not going to make it”. So, the fact is that we were there and I said to myself: “What the hell... that looks fucking bad”. So Mikel Zabalza, the ice-expert, went first…
E.P: No; Silvio was first but…
J.O: Yeah, right! Silvio saw how it looked, thought ‘fuck off’ to himself and turned around. Yeah. But Mikel is very good on ice. Very good.
E. P: But Silvio had asked me before we reached that point: “Do you think Mikel will lead that pitch?” and I answered “Yup, sure he’ll do”. So I told, Mikel, ‘hey, you do that pitch’. He climbed two short pitches, and then frowned: there was a section with very bad snow, ice beneath, and then blocked.
J.O: In a place like that, two things can happen: You can rip loose the whole section, falling along with it (it was 55º steep), or you can sink your leg in the snow too much, reach the ice beneath, and fiuuuuu... fall.
Sunday: Part 2
Juan Oiarzabal was born in Alava (Basque Country) 48 years ago. In 2000, his Annapurna climb made him the sixth climber who bagged the 14 eighthousanders on Earth. Two years later he climbed Everest without O2. In later years, he has kept on climbing 8000+ peaks, either as a mountain guide or as a stunt in Spanish TV documentaries. This has made him break the world record of summiting 21 8000+ peaks. His recent summit on K2 almost took his life, and he suffered severe frostbite. He’ll be losing at least eight of his toes.
Edurne Pasabán (30) was born in Tolosa (Basque Country, Spain). Her K2 summit made her the only living female K2 summiteer today. She has bagged many more 8000+ peaks: Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, GI, GII and K2, all of them in an amazing short period of time.
Both Juan and Edurne were part of a huge expedition launched by ‘Al Filo de lo Imposible’, a Spanish TV documentary series. The goal of the expedition was to put a woman (Edurne was chosen) on the summit of K2. Therefore, a strong team of climbers was hired to support her and film the ascent: Juan Oiarzabal, Juan Vallejo, Mikel Zabalza and Ferrán Latorre. They summited on July26th through the Abruzzi Spur route, along with Silvio Mondinelli and four other climbers from the national Italian team ’50 Years after’.
The Interview and the images were made by El Correo Digital correspondent on K2 Fernando J. Pérez. Top picture (left to right): Juan Vallejo, Juanito Oiarzabal and Edurne Pasabán during their aproach to the mountain, in June; second picture: Juanito and Edurne during the climb; third picture: Juanito Oiarzabal just a few steps from the summit of K2. Images courtesy of El Correo Digital
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