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ExWeb tribute to Women of K2 - Edurne's overstuffed backpack
Jul 4, 2004 19: 00 EST
If a fortune-teller had told Edurne about her future five years ago, she wouldn’t have believed a word of it. Today even, after bagging six 8000+, she still doesn’t seem to fully comprehend what she has done. Shyly she shows at her speeches, interviews and photo sessions, as if not sure that she is actually the right person for the flashlights.
Much like everyone else in her homeland, the Basque country in Spain, Edurne has climbed all her life. It was natural for her to be in the mountains, first with her parents, then with friends. One thing lead to the other: a friend proposed a new climb, a trip farther away, and from the Basque cliffs she went on to the Pyrenees, then to the Alps, then to the Andes…
Suddenly she found herself in an expedition to Everest. She made it up to 8300m on her first attempt in 1999; and then to 8600 the following year. Both expeditions went from the North side, and both were without supplementary oxygen.
She joined a new expedition in 2001 and, out of the blue, made it to the summit - with O2. Only hours earlier the team considered to retreat, but changed their mind and rushed to the top. Back home, media was waiting for Edurne at the airport: she was the third Spanish woman to summit Everest, and the first Basque female. She had started from the very top.
People wanted more and she loved the mountains so, why not? This is fun, let’s try another! By fall, she went to Dhaulagiri. Awaiting there was however the dark side of mountaineering; no summit for her, but a lethal fall for her team member Pepe Garcés.
Yet, she wouldn’t even think to give up. Climbing was a part of her, as it was for most of her mates. In the spring of 2002 she swiftly climbed Makalu along with the Italians - Merelli and Mondinelli - and Carlos Pauner. Edurne summited ahead of the rest on a perfect morning. Yes, she was strong! After the monsoon, she joined Juan Oiarzabal, who was guiding a team to Cho Oyu. That was her third summit; and now she had too many to go unnoticed, most of all as Oiarzabal also spoke about her to the media, advertisers, and TV producers.
Things happened fast. ‘Al Filo de lo Imposible’ (On the Edge of Impossible); Spanish TV:s documentary series about extreme outdoor sports knocked on her door with an offer she just couldn’t refuse: They’d pay her to climb mountains, and bring her fame and fortune. Edurne was exactly what the producers were looking for: A young girl, focused on climbing, and an Everest summiteer.
“You just take it easy; they’ll take charge of everything. All you have to do is climb,” someone said.
Still a “freelance” Edurne climbed Lhotse in the spring of 2003 and this mountain became her final golden key to the ‘Al Filo’ team. Joining them, she made it to the summit of both Gasherbrums only weeks after her Lhotse summit. The triple header was a great success, along with a portion of luck. But luck often smiles at champions and the statistics don’t count it at all; Edurne was now established as one of the top 8000+ women summiteers in the world.
Three ‘big ones’ in one season. Six 8000+ in three years. At only 30 years old, nobody asks Edurne if she will keep on climbing - it is widely presumed that she intends to climb them all (14). It is presumed by all but by her – Edurne says she doesn’t even want to think about it. She is a climbing star, whether she likes it or not. She has no choice but to carry her heavy backpack, stuffed with the great expectations now made upon her.
Next, it ‘had’ to be K2. Before departing she was not as triumphant as might be expected though. As she told to ExWeb in an interview, "To be honest with you, I had not even considered K2 until "Al Filo" called. K2 is a mountain that always instilled fear in me; difficult, exposed, and very high. It's not just any 8000er... Nevertheless, what made me accept the challenge is that I'm going with a strong and resourceful expedition. I am going to climb with people I know and enjoy climbing with. In these conditions, and only in these conditions, I have decided to go."
The support team is led by Oiarzabal – 20, 8000+ summits - and three very strong climbers: Juan Vallejo, Mikel Zabalza and Ferrán Latorre.
During her trek to K2, she recently wrote in a dispatch that she missed a girl to chat with on the team. She is alone in a man’s world. Tall and slender, with a broad smile, and a slightly fragile look, Edurne Pasaban catches attention in every base camp.
A media darling, a record-woman, a top adventurer... but also a girl from Tolosa, who just wanted to go climbing with her friends.
Edurne Pasaban was born in Tolosa –Basque Country- in 1973. She has reached the summit of six 8000+ (Everest, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Lhotse, GII y GI) in just three years. Currently she is climbing K2 from the Abruzzi route along with Juan Oiarzabal, Juan Vallejo, Mikel Zabalza and Ferrán Latorre. Their climb is being filmed for Spanish TV series ‘Al filo de lo imposible”.
Image of Edurne, courtesy of Edurnepasaban.net
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2004
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