Who doesn’t have dreams? Who hasn’t believed they could be someone special and fought for it? Edurne Pasaban is a dreamer who one day decided to dedicate herself to what she loved most—and has been fortunate enough to make a living from it.
Success comes to those who pursue it, and Edurne is a specialist in that regard. From a very young age, just a teenager, she became fascinated by the mountains and began exploring them. At 16 years old—16 tender years—she travelled to the Alps and successfully climbed Mont Blanc (4,810m), the Matterhorn (4,478m), and Monte Rosa (4,614m). A remarkable achievement.
Mountaineering is a sport that demands not only a basic level of physical fitness but also, crucially, psychological resilience strong enough to dare to ascend a mountain. You must be prepared to endure harsh weather and have unwavering self-belief, because it’s you—and only you—who can push yourself forward.
Edurne Pasaban meets all the necessary requirements for climbing—and beyond that, she has become the Spanish woman with the most summits conquered. Her success lies in her strength, perseverance, and passion for doing what she loves most: dedicating herself to a profession as gruelling as hers.
In 2001, she embarked on a mission to conquer the world’s highest peaks, starting with the Himalayas. Year after year, she surpassed herself, summiting mountains like Makalu, Cho Oyu, K2, Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak, and Manaslu. In 2005, the Spanish Olympic Committee awarded her the Best Athlete of the Year Prize, and Kangchenjunga became her latest triumph—her 12th 8,000m peak—celebrated with immense enthusiasm on 12 May 2009.
Currently, she is striving to summit Shisha Pangma in the Himalayan range, standing at 8,027 metres. On her website www.edurnepasaban.com, you can find updates she posts whenever possible, keeping her fans and closest loved ones informed.
Her next challenge will be Annapurna, also in the Himalayas, at 8,091 metres. We know she’ll do phenomenally—it’s just a matter of waiting to see how she conquers, metre by metre, these last two peaks to crown herself as the first woman in the world to climb all 14 of the highest summits on Earth.
