Everest and Shisha Pangma expeditions

Some of you asked me a few days ago what happened to the expeditions I talked about in my previous post. Well, Alberto Iñurrategi, Juan Vallejo and Mikel Zabalza had to turn around in their attempt to crown the Everest in alpine style along the corridor of the Japaneses. Two avalanches on their tents made them rush back to the base camp after losing their tent, a piolet, and spending part of the night huddled into a hole dug in the snow. Yet three days later they wanted to return to attack the summit.

Bivouac in the corridor of the Japanese (source: desnivel.com)

On the other hand, Juanito Oiarzabal made it to the central summit of Shisha Pangma (8,008 m) but not to its main ridge (8,027 m), after three hours trying to equip the 150 meter ridge that separates the two summits. A very complicated pass connected to the bad weather made him turn around. Still, Juanito wants to return to the top, maybe next year, to meet his 2x14 project.

Juanito Oiarzabal (source: desnivel.com)

Finally, Edurne Pasabán's group spent the night in the bivouac Scott, at 6,200 meters, and returned to Shisha Pangma base camp (southwest side). The night was very cold and scary, because it was snowing until 2 or 3 in the morning, which triggered landslides and rock falls very close to where they were. The next morning they decided to terminate their acclimatization, as the snow fell during the night made the ascent route dangerous. They returned to base camp where they rest in hopes of good weather to go to the summit.

Alfaro and Casas in the midst of the snowstorm (source: rtve.es)

Route around Iceland

This entry is just a list of interesting places to visit in Iceland. Their location is roughly this:

View Iceland in a larger map


And some of those points of interest are:

The Blue Lagoon spa/pools



Seljalandsfoss waterfall



Skógafoss waterfall


Black sand beaches at Dyrhólaey


Svartifoss waterfall


Svinafellsjökull (photo) and Skaftafellsjökull glaciers



Dettifoss waterfall


Selfoss Waterfall


Víti crater (part of Krafla caldera)


Around crater Víti


Godafoss waterfall


Glaumbær typical old houses



Strokkur geyser in Haukadalur


Gullfoss waterfalls (also known as Golden Falls)


Landmannalaugar - Thorsmork trekking


Landmannalaugar - Thorsmork trekking


Landmannalaugar - Thorsmork trekking


Landmannalaugar - Thorsmork trekking


Landmannalaugar - Thorsmork trekking


Álftavatn hut between Landmannalaugar - Thorsmork


Landmannalaugar - Thorsmork trekking

Himalayan weekend

This is a very interesting weekend in the Himalayan area. On one hand, Edurne Pasabán, Ferrán Latorre, Asier Izaguirre and Alex Txikon have reached Camp 1 (bivouac Scott, 6,200 m - 20,341 feet) in their way to the summit of Shisha Pangma, the penultimate mountain for Edurne to ascend and become the first woman climbing the 14 eight-thousands on the planet. Along this weekend, they will continue with their acclimatization and preparing their way to the top. They will go up to around 6,700 m (21,980 feet) and then down to the base camp where they will sleep on Sunday night.


Asier and Edurne during their acclimatization in Shisha Pangma at 6,200 m (source: rtve.es)


At the same time, Juanito Oiarzabal, who holds the world record for most ascents of mountains over eight thousand meters, is also currently in Shisha Pangma in its north side, and this weekend will attempt to summit.


Juanito Oiarzabal and Roberto Rojo "Gorri" at the summit of Makalu in 2008 (photo: collection Roberto Rojo)


Moreover, the Naturgas Hornbein'09 expedition attempts Everest in alpine style through the Hornbein corridor. This is probably the most difficult climbing route to the roof of the world. In fact, this route has only had seven ascents and only one in alpine style (the Swiss Erhard Loretan and Jean Troillet in 1986). The other five climbers did it using oxygen and fixed ropes. The members of Naturgas Hornbein'09: Juan Vallejo, Mikel Zabalza and Alberto Iñurrategi have already started the attack to the summit, hoping to reach this point on Sunday.


Video of Alberto Iñurrategi, Juan Vallejo and Mikel Zabalza at 7,500 m in their last outing of acclimatization.

We hope they can all meet their targets and return safely to base camp.

Sebastián Álvaro from Tibet (15-05-2009)

Click on the icon to listen the interview (in Spanish)

Tiempo de Aventura (Ser radio), with Sebastián Álvaro (15-05-09)

Playing For Change: Song Around the World "Don't Worry"

This song says uh
no matter WHO you are
no matter where you go
in your life - at some point
you gonna need somebody to stand by you

oh yeah, oh my darlin'
stand by me

no matter who you ARE
matter where you go
in life...
you goin' need somebody
to stand by you

no matter how much MONEY you got
or the friends you got -
you goin' need
somebody
to stand by you



When the night
has come
And the land is dark
And that moon is the only light we'll see
No. I won't be afraid,
no I won't shed one tear
Just as long as you stand by me
and darlin', darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me,
Oh stand,stand by me

When sky that we look upon
Should she tumble and fall
And the mountains they should crumble into the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry,
no I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

So darlin', darlin', stand by me,
oh stand by me
Please stand
please stand by me,
stand by me, and dalin' darlin' stand by me-e, yeah

Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me,
oh now now stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

Darlin', darlin', stand by me-e, stand by me
Oh stand by me, stand by me, stand by me

The odyssey of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

The British geologist Raymond Priestley used to say back in 1917, that when facing a desperate situation from which there seems to be no exit, we can always try to pray, asking for Shackleton coming to rescue us.


The Anglo-Irish explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was the person who, in 1914, decided to cross on foot the Antarctic continent, from one side to the other and through the Pole. This was, in Shackleton's words, 'one great main object of Antarctic journeyings', as three years earlier, Roald Amundsen and Robert Scott had reached the South Pole (the latter dying in his attempt, but this is another story.)

Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition was the third conducted in Antarctica. The first one, in 1901 with Captain Scott on his Discovery expedition, and the second, in 1907, as head of the Nimrod Expedition. In his third trip, aboard the Endurance and with 13 other men, Shackleton never stepped on the southernmost continent, but made one of the greatest adventures of the twentieth century.

At the beginning of World War I, the Endurance went deep into the Weddell Sea on its way to the Vahsel Bay, in the Antarctic coast. The plan was, after arriving to the bay, that Shackleton, five other men and a hundred dogs, would move to the South Pole and then continue to the Ross Sea. The rest of his crew would be distributed between Graham Land, Enderby Land and the base camp, to carry out scientific studies. At the same time, a supporting group (the Ross Sea party) would travel on the Aurora ship to the opposite side of the continent, establish camp in McMurdo Sound, and from there lay a series of supply depots across the Ross Ice Shelf to the foot of the Beardmore Glacier. In this way, Shackleton's team would not carry all the necessary equipment and food from their point of departure.


What Shackleton never imagined was that even before reaching Vahsel Bay, the Endurance would be trapped by the ice and for more than eight months, his crew would be blocked and adrift. In this situation, Shackleton tried to avoid that the inactivity and fear would make a dent in his group, because he knew that they could only leave that icy hell if they remained together, as no one could come to rescue them. The worst moment came when the pressure of the ice finally shattered the hull of the Endurance, of more than one meter thick. The camera of Frank Hurley attended powerless, like the rest of the crew, to the disappearance of the boat that was supposed to carry them to their destination. At this moment, they decided to take everything they could, with the help of the sled dogs. They moved forward while the dogs resisted. Then, they slaughtered and ate them. For six months they lived on unstable and drifting ice floes, sometimes leaving them quickly, when they suddenly broke.


In April 1916, two years after beginning their journey, the always harsh Antarctic forced them to choose between two great dangers: keep moving between breaking icebergs, or embarking on three small boats to the Antarctic Ocean. They chose to venture into the sea. A fearsome and tough navigation between enormous waves and storms led them finally to Elephant Island, at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. After many months they stepped on shore, but were still lost. Shackleton decided to look for help getting into the sea in one of the small boats with five other men. As incredible as it seems, they reached the coast of South Georgia Island, after having sailed for 808 miles (1.300 Km). But before arriving to the whaling factory on the island, they still had to traverse 18.64 miles (30 Km) of glaciers and escarpments. Shackleton could only rest when he returned to Elephant Island and checked that all his men were safe. Later, he wrote to his wife: 'I have done it. Not a life lost and we have been through Hell.' In December 1916, Shackleton arrived in New Zealand.


Meanwhile, unaware of the calamities of the Endurance's group, the Ross Sea party reached Discovery Bay in March 1915. Two months later, when the Aurora was docked at Ross Island and ten of its men carrying the material to Beardome glacier, the boat got stuck in the ice and swept to sea, leaving the sailors on ground and unable to reach the Aurora. On February 12th, 1916, the ship was freed from the ice and managed to return to Dunedin (New Zealand) for help. Throughout 1916, the governments of Australia, New Zealand and England arranged the financing of a new journey of the Aurora to retrieve the sailors stranded on the ice. In early 1917, the Aurora, led by John King Davis and having Shackleton aboard, reached Cape Evans. A week later, seven survivors among the ten men went up to the boat and were taken back to Wellington (New Zealand).

From Lukla to the Everest base camp

A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to visit a small part of Nepal, in particular the route from Lukla (2,840 m - 9,318 ft) to the Everest base camp (5,364 m - 17,598 ft), going up first to Kala Patthar (5,545 m - 18,192 ft), from where the views of Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse are spectacular.

In the weeks before my trip, during its planning, I spent some time with Google Earth and Google Maps having a look to the areas we were going to walk. I imagined, almost inadvertently, how could be the people we would cross, or the landscapes of the valleys we would trek. Looking at these maps, I was quite surprised and a bit disappointed because from the initial part of the route to about half of the way, the satellite pictures still don't have a great definition, given the number of people who follow this route every year. That is why it was very complicated to plot on a satellite map, the route we were going to do. So I was a bit frustrated...

Now that I'm back and I know the route well, I decided to create a map on Google Maps so that future travelers don't come with the same problem, or for those curious who would like to know which is the most typical route to the Everest base camp (Nepali side), having 2 weeks of vacation. I say specifically 2 weeks of vacation because if I would have had 3, my route would have changed a bit, so instead of going up and down by basically the same path (up by Pheriche and down by Dingboche), my return would have been done via Gokyo or rather the Gokyo Ri (5,360 m - 17,585 ft) from where the views are amazing, as in addition to the Nuptse (7,861 m - 25,791 ft) you can see four eight-thousands peaks: Everest (8,848 m - 29,029 ft), Lhotse (8,516 m - 27,940 ft), Makalu (8,462 m - 27,762 ft) and Cho Oyu (8,201 m - 26,906 ft).

Well, so this is the normal ascent route from Lukla to the Everest base camp:

View Larger Map

And I take the opportunity to display a picture taken from Kala Patthar, where you can see in front the Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse:

14 x 8.000 with Edurne Pasabán

Until just 22 years ago, no human being had managed to climb the 14 highest peaks on the planet. It was the October 16, 1986 when Reinhold Messner, regarded by many as the best Himalayan all time, completed the ascent to the fourteen eight-thousands without using oxygen and in traditional style. Today, only 14 men have managed to climb the 14 highest peaks in the world. By contrast, no woman has achieved this goal at the moment, although three are close to overcoming this challenge: Edurne Pasabán, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Nives Meroi. All of them still have three peaks to ascend. The Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner has the Kangchenjunga, K2 and Shishapagma. To the Italian Nives Meroi, the remaining ones are the Kangchenjunga, Annapurna and Makalu. And to the Spanish Edurne Pasabán, the Kangchenjunga, Annapurna I and Shishapangma. From this blog, I wish the best to the three of them and that their dreams will be soon fulfilled.

Edurne Pasabán Lizarribar was born on August 1, 1973 in Tolosa (Guipúzcoa), Spain. She is technical industrial engineer and has an MBA by the ESADE Business School in Barcelona. She worked for several years in the company of her family, dedicated to building machinery. At present, she's director of a restaurant/country house in the Basque town of Zizurkil. In addition, acts as a consultant and lecturer for different companies in the field of motivation, planning and teamwork, using the knowledge and experience acquired by the extreme situations lived in her expeditions to the Himalayas.

Her fondness for the mountains comes from a very young age. In 1989, when she was 16, traveled to the Alps for the first time, where she did the Mont Blanc (4,810 m - 15,781 feet), Matterhorn (4,478 m - 14,692 feet) and Monte Rosa (4,614 m - 15,138 feet). At the age of 17, she reached the summit of Chimborazo (6,310 m - 20,702 feet) in the Andes. Since then, she has proved to have the necessary physical and mental abilities to perform these complex and dangerous expeditions.

In 2001, Edurne conducted her first major climb, reaching the summit of the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest (8,848 m - 29,029 feet) and thereby initiating the Himalayan ascents. In the spring of next year, 2002, rose the top of Makalu (8,463 m - 27,766 feet), and in the autumn of that year, the Cho-Oyu (8,201 m - 26,906 feet). In 2003, again in the spring, she climbed Lhotse (8,516 m - 27,940 feet), and in late July, and in 7 days, reached the summit of Gasherbrum II (8,035 m - 26,362 feet) and Hidden Peak (8,068 m - 26,470 feet), also known as Gasherbrum I. In July 2004, she succeeded in crowning the top of the second world's highest mountain, K2 (8,611 m - 28,251 feet) and staying alive, thus breaking the curse that seemed to pursue her predecessors, since all women who had reached the summit of K2 so far, have died on its descent or climbing other eight-thousands. The conquest of this mountain had a high price for Edurne, as it cost the amputation of two of her toes' phalanges by freezing. The price was even higher for his fellow of expedition Juanito Oiarzabal (best Spanish alpinist of all time) because it involved the amputation of almost all his toes. Despite these injuries, Edurne climbed up the Nanga Parbat (8,125 m - 26,657 feet) in July 2005, and the Broad Peak (8,047 m - 26,401 feet) in the summer of 2007. In May 2008, she topped the Dhaulagiri (8,167 m - 26,795 feet) together with the Ecuadorian Ivan Vallejo Ricaurte, who achieved with this ascension his dream of reaching the summit of the 14 highest peaks in the world. The last eight-thousand conquered by Edurne was the Manaslu (8,163 m - 26,781 feet) at the beginning of October 2008.

Edurne is currently preparing her next expedition, with the aim of conquering the Kangchenjunga (8,568 m - 28,110 feet), the third highest mountain in the world. Of this, she would only have two more peaks to conquer, the Annapurna (8,019 m - 26,309 feet) and Shisha Pangma (8,046 m - 26,398 feet). Perhaps at that time Edurne Pasabán will become the first woman in the world that reaches the 14 eight-thousands, the 14 highest summits on the planet. Hopefully she will do, and that in the meantime, the Mother Goddess of the World will protect her in her way.

This is a video of Edurne on the summit of Broad Peak (8,047 m - 26,401 feet) in July 2007: