VilaWeb - Diari escola: The women's race for the 14 eight-thousanders

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dissabte, 17 d'agost de 2024

The women's race for the 14 eight-thousanders

> Edurne Pasaban, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Nives Meroi

> Oh Eun-sun's sprint

> Reinhold Messner: the first man to achieve the feat

dimarts, 27 d'octubre de 2009

There are 14 mountains over 8,000 metres high in the world. Ten are in the Himalayan mountain range and four are in the Karakoram range.

The highest mountain is Everest (8,848m), followed by K2 (8,611m) which is just as difficult, if not more difficult, to climb. The 14th highest is Shishapangma (8,013 m), which is located in Tibet.

Reaching the top of any of these mountains is difficult and something that is only within the reach of highly experienced mountaineers; to climb them all is a huge achievement and an extraordinary accomplishment.

Until now, it has only been done by eighteen people, all of them men. However, four women now have a good chance of adding their names to that select list: the South Korean Oh Eun-sun, the Basque Edurne Pasaban, the Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and the Italian Nives Meroi. The big question is: who will be the first?

Edurne Pasaban, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Nives Meroi

+ Edurne Pasaban has climbed 12 of the world's 14 highest mountains.

At the beginning of 2009, Edurne Pasaban, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Nives Meroi had all climbed 11 of the world's 14 highest mountains. On 18 May Pasaban climbed Kangchenjunga, making her the first woman to have climbed 12 eight-thousanders. Just two days later, on 20 May, her accomplishment was equalled by Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, who reached the top of Lhotse. Earlier this month (October), Pasaban had tried to climb another eight-thousander, Shishapangma, but strong winds in the area prevented her from reaching the summit. She is going to try again next year, when she will also try to climb Annapurna, another eight-thousander she has yet to climb.

Oh Eun-sun's sprint

+ Oh Eun-sun only has one more eight-thousander to climb.

In 2006, Oh Eun-sun had climbed three eight-thousanders. However, she has since climbed ten more (four this year, 2009). She only has one more eight-thousander to climb: Annapurna. Earlier this month she tried to climb it, but did not reach the summit. Oh Eun-sun has considerable logistical back-up: she travels by helicopter to the base camp and her ropes are all prepared before she reaches the mountain. It has been suggested that this may point to an excess of competitiveness that is contrary to the essential spirit of mountaineering.

Reinhold Messner: the first man to achieve the feat

+ Reinhold Messner, the first man to conquer all fourteen summits above 8,000 metres.

On 16 October 1986, the Tyrolean mountaineer Reinhold Messner became the first man to conquer all fourteen summits above 8,000 metres. Messner's feat is even more impressive on account of the fact that he climbed them all without oxygen. Eight years earlier, in 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler had been the first to climb Everest without oxygen. Messner repeated the feat in 1980, that time on his own: something that had never been done before.

MATERIALS

Edurne Pasaban
Format:Web
Pàgina oficial d'aquesta alpinista, aspirant a ésser la primera de fer els catorze cims de més de vuit mil metres.
Endesa y Edurne Pasaban con el desafio 14x8.000
Format:Web
Pàgina sobre Edurne Pasaban d'Endesa, companyia patrocinadora de les seves expedicions.
8000ers.com
Format:Web
Informació dels catorze 'vuit mils' i estadístiques alpines que s'hi relacionen.
Eight-thousander
Format:Web
Els catorze 'vuit mils', a la Wikipedia.
MountEverest.net
Format:Web
Informació de les expedicions a l'Everest i, més generalment, a l'Himàlaia.

QUE HO SABIES?

The ten highest mountains in the world are in the Himalayas, except for K2, which is part of the Karakoram range.
In 1996, 26-year old Araceli Segarra became the first Catalan woman to climb Everest, the roof of the world.