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Chilean
Women Everest 2001 Expedition
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First
South American Women Expedition to Mount Everest |
Four
Chilean women started an expedition to Mount Everest.
They are Vivianne Cuq (leader), Cristina Prieto,
Patricia Soto y Andrea Munoz. They are joined by three
high-altitude cameramen: Christian Cuq, Philippe Reuter
and Francisco Medina. The rest of expedition includes
one doctor, one producer and one professional cameraman
from Chilean National Television. Total: 10 persons,
all Chilean, except Philippe Reuter, who is from
France, but lives in Chile.
Update
5/30/2001:
"They did it! 3 Chileans on the summit of
Everest. Was it expected?. Personally speaking, I
never doubted the success of the expedition. I know
the girls and their sporting and professional
capabilities. From the start, the human make up of the
group was so complementary that it could only be a
success. Even though compatibility and heterogeneity
are not always easy to manage, the selection of the
team was carefully studied by Vivianne and the result
is plain to see. Just imagine, it is not easy, in
theory for these girls to set off on an expedition
with their boss, husband or brother, but I have always
thought that Azimut 360 is a large and successful
family, and I think this has been further proved.
Congratulations to the Chileans on this expedition! 5
out of 7 climbers on the summit of Everest. 2 climbers
at no lower than 8400 meters. (both would have made
the top had there been less people on the hill that
day) I am taking this opportunity to salute Pancho and
Andrea who have shared the same suffering as the rest.
They have endured the same 2 and a half months, they
have slept at the South Col and have attacked the
summit the same as the rest. Unfortunately history
always remembers those who reach the summit, but we
will never forget Andrea and Pancho who have achieved
just as much as the others, in particular having
climbed an 8000er and shared the same rich
experience.
I hardly expected to get 7 out of 7. However, 5 out of
7 is a very good ratio and much better than previous
Chilean expeditions on the mountain. Also, it is one
of the highest ratios of all Everest expeditions (I
think the official average is 10%) Now there have been
3 Chilean females to stand on top of Everest - a
figures that in female terms leaves Chile in an
excellent position in the rankings.
I don't know if I should include myself in the
statistics. It is quite a dilemma. I am of course
French by birth and passport, but I have lived in
Chile for 18 years. My wife, daughter and business are
Chilean. I have spent more time living in Chile than
France and everything I have ever done or possessed in
my adult life is Chilean. All the sporting events I
have participated in have been in and for Chile. I
leave it up to Chile to resolve this issue.
As far as I am concerned, I feel as French as the
French do (nobody should turn their back on their
nationality) and as Chilean as the Chileans (my
adopted country). The ideal situation would be to have
dual nationality to resolve this dilemma definitively.
But is clear that as far as this expedition is
concerned, I represent Chile with all my heart.
That's enough philosophy - let's concentrate on the
summit!! We left at 9.45 - 10pm on the 22nd May along
with 60 others. The ascent was achieved in a
procession in which everyone hung on to the fixed
ropes as much as they could. Lose stones came tumbling
down from all sides to the extent that I was wondering
why there hadn't been any deaths. With temperatures
under -20 degrees C and during a totally black night,
we arrived at about 2am on the Balcony (8500m) where
we gathered the group and changed our oxygen
cylinders. From there the route rises and loose rock
falls from all sides. The ridge finally reaches the
South Summit (8750m) where there was a delay which
meant we had to wait 20-30 minutes. This was the time
necessary for Willy and his Sherpa to fix the ropes
from the south summit to the main summit. Finally the
caravan left for the summit. We changed our oxygen
again, passed the Hillary Step and finally arrived at
the summit at around 8.15am. Paty, Cristina, Viviane
and I arrived first, followed by Christian who had got
caught up in an Indian queue (8 Indians summitted that
day), but he arrived accompanied by music sent
directly by radio from Base Camp where Sabine, Carlos
and the production team had taken it upon themselves
to boost the spirits up high!
From
the summit, the world seems tiny. The other 8000ers
(Cho-Oyu, Lhotse and Makalu) are dwarfed. It is an
incredible feeling - makes you wonder who the
architect of all this is!
The
weather got steadily worse and we decided to descend
immediately, conscious of the danger of the descent
(weather, tiredness etc) and I did not want to relive
the tragedy of 1996. In total it had taken 9 hours to
reach the summit, which easily beats the standard 12
hours allowed for commercial expeditions and is well
within the realm of male sporting performance.
The
descent was achieved without any major inconveniences.
We came across the corpse of Scott Fischer, we
reminded us of our insignificance. Unfortunately as
soon as we arrived at camp, we found out that a member
of another expedition have fallen from the south
summit and was probably dead. We had been there a few
hours earlier, doing the same as him, taking the same
risks as him. Peter (that was his name) was alone with
his Sherpa who didn't know whether he had survived the
fall or not.
Incredible,
never come without partners to this hill, nobody will
help you. Several people saw him fall, but none wanted
to interrupt their ascent to save his life. Pancho, I
know you would never have done that and your gesture
to accompany Andrea takes on even more significance
and value. Hours later, we found out that Peter had
made signs from where he landed (proof of his
survival) which were seen by others. Another Sherpa,
on hearing this, went up the following day but he had
already died. Nobody, not even the greatest can
survive at that height in those conditions.
It
chills me to know that Peter could have survived had
it not been for the egotism of the expeditions which
were in a position to do something. Hillary is right
when he says "It's all shit on Everest these
days."
With
this sad news we descended from the South Col to Base
Camp. It took us 2 days and was not without fear nor
questions.
The
Icefall had changed beyond all recognition. We were
trapped when a ladder fell into a 15m deep crevasse. I
called on the radio to the "Khumbu Doctor"
who is responsible for the maintenance of the ladders,
but he couldn't arrange anything for 3-4 hours. So we
cut a couple of ropes and found our own way out on a
snow bridge which collapsed itself the next day! Also,
a 40x10 meter wall collapsed right next to me as I
crossed a ladder. The long and short of it is that I
never want to play this game of Russian Roulette
again. This "logical route" is not logical
at all, apart from for whoever wants to take more
risks and raise his adrenalin levels.
During
this expedition we have been making friends, one of
whom is Ivan, an Ecuadorian who has twice summitted
Everest without oxygen and from both sides. He has
also climbed K2 and other 8000ers. He is a fellow
South American who is unknown but who deserves all the
eulogies and has an impressive sport CV. For him the
ascent from Nepal was a dream come true, but he
considers it a more dangerous ascent than from Tibet.
Finally,
we are all happy to be alive and back in base camp,
emaciated, but alive. Now we are going home. We all
want a couple of days in Aruba (Caribbean) to
recuperate before going back to the cold of the
Chilean winter. We will see whether our appetite has
been satisfied. We all want to see our friends and
families again, develop our photos and relax knowing
the job is done. For my part, I want to congratulate
again the team members and in particular the AZIMUT360
guides. I am also grateful to Vivianne for inviting me
to join the expedition and give me the chance to climb
Everest and listen with great emotion to my 3 year old
daughter say on the telephone that her "Daddy got
to the top of the hill. When is he coming home?"
At
the end of the day that is all that matters.
Viva
Chile!! Philippe Reuter."
Translated
by Adrian Sutton For
full dispatches in Spanish see there site here.
Mr. Peter
Gerfried Ganner death is reported here.
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