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April
1st, 2008 -
Nepal - Annapurna
Base Camp (ABC)
- 4200m.
It is early
morning in ABC.
The bright sun
is slowly raising
the temparature
far below 0°C.
Iñaki
is outside his
lodge, digging
snow. Climbers
from all countries
start arriving
in the base
camp after many
days of trekking.
To them, it
is the final
destination.
To Iñaki,
ABC is just
the beginning.
He is waiting,
acclimatizing
and hoping for
the best conditions
to ascent his
mountain. Iñaki
is attempting
face south of
Annapurna I,
8091 meters,
the 10th highest
mountain in
the world.
Iñaki
Ochoa de Olza
is a professional
mountaineer
from Pamplona,
Spain. Born
in 1967, he
started climbing
8000 meters
high mountains
at the age of
22. Since then,
Iñaki
has done more
than twenty
expeditions
throughout the
world, reaching
the highest
existing peaks,
most of the
time without
O2.
So far, Iñaki
climbed twelve
out of the fourteen
8000m mountains
on earth. Only
two are remaining.
«After
the Annapurna,
which is a very
hard mountain
to climb, I
will only have
one mountain
left in the
country : the
Kangchenjunga.
» said
Iñaki,
pointing east
at a white peak
high of 8598
meters.
For the ascent
of Annapurna
I, Iñaki
has teamed up
with the mountaineers
Horia Colibasanu,
Roumanian, and
Don Bowie, Canadian.
When asked about
the name they
gave to their
expedition,
Iñaki
answers jokingly
: « Well
we had thought
of calling ourselves
the ‘Good,
the Bad and
the Ugly Annapurna
1 Expedition’,
but the problem
is that we did
not agree on
who is who.
No one wants
to be the ugly
! »
To date, less
than 160 people
ever managed
to climb the
Annapurna, with
very few through
face south,
the most difficult
path, the one
Iñaki
is now using
to climb this
Himalayan peak.
«Annapurna
is an extremely
difficult mountain,
» explains
Iñaki
« it is
steep and dangerous,
with a high
risk of avalanches.
Some people
say I might
not make it.
This gives me
a goose flesh
sensation down
my spine. »
Confrontation
to death is
inavitable for
professional
mountain dwellers.
Iñaki
entrusts that
27 of his closest
friends died
in the mountains,
friends he cared
for, friends
who spent time
with him in
what he calls
his «
base camp »
in Pamplona.
« When
I was young,
I wasn’t
prepared for
death »
admits Iñaki.
« I was
told my grandfather
had left to
the sky with
a nice bearded
man. Here, it
is a different
reality. Many
people die in
the mountain.
Death is a daily
reality. »
Iñaki
does not intend
to take risks
his entire life.
« I do
want children,
and I will stop
risking my life
once I will
have a girl
friend and children
to care for
» promises
the mountaineer.
While many women
are hoping to
conquer his
heart, Iñaki
is now in the
arms of the
white Annapurnas,
reaching step
by step the
silent, pure,
dangerous and
powerful Himalayan
peak.
« Even
if some people
think we are
the badly raised
children of
this declining
society, I do
not see it that
way »
wrote Iñaki.
« I only
wait for the
moment to raise
very high, look
once again within
myself with
infinite freedom,
and steal energy
from these mountains
that feed and
enrich me more
every day. »
--
May
23rd 2008 -
On the descent,
Iñaki
had a seizure
and collapsed
near Camp 4.
Apparent brain
damage was complicated
by pulmonary
edema and Ochoa—despite
both rescue
attempts and
medical care
directed remotely
by doctors at
the Hospital
of Navarre in
Pamplona, Spain—succumbed
at 6:45 a.m...
http://www.navarra8000.com/
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