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Pasaban Expedition Summits GII
15:41 p.m. EDT Jul 21, 2003
Edurne Pasaban reached the summit of her fifth 8,000m peak on the morning of Saturday, July 19, 2003 when she and expedition teammates Marianne Chapuisat, Josu Bereziartua, Jose Ramon "Brown" Agirre, Juanito Oiarzabal and Iván Vallejo scaled Gasherbrum II. The expedition had originally planned first to climb GI, however a continuous period of bad weather led them to change plans last week and move to GII. High winds and trailbreaking through the last 400 meters to the summit made for a particularly difficult ascent, but the expedition's effort was rewarded when all reached the summit. Now back at base camp, the team is going to rest a few days and may again attempt GI if the favorable weather holds.
Marianne Chapuisat is the only woman who has climbed an 8000er in winter (Cho Oyu 1993).
Edurne Pasaban has now climbed five of the 14 8000 meter mountains in the world including GII, Everest, Cho Oyu, Makalu and Lhotse. This year she will also attempt Gasherbrum I.
If she is successful with both she will have six 8000ers - a feat only accomplished by three women
before her: Polish climber Wanda Rutkiewicz (8), French climber Chantal Mauduit (6) and American
climber Christine Boskoff (6). Both Wanda and Chantal sadly perished in the mountains.
Image of Edurne Pasaban courtesy of edurnepasaban.net
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