In 1992, Pedro Pacheco attempts the Everest

In 1992, Pedro Pacheco became the Portuguese climber who came closer to the summit of the Everest. At 600 meters from the summit, the strong winds prevented his ascent. This is the story of that expedition.

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)