Edurne Pasaban and her On the Edge of the Impossible team consisting of Alex Txikon, Asier Izaguirre and Nacho Orviz have reached the final summit needed to complete their challenge of climbing the world's 14 highest peaks.
After many ups and downs and years pursuing one of the most significant challenges to date, she has achieved what Edurne fought so hard for. The climber always knew she would dedicate herself body and soul to this profession, despite not receiving support from the mountaineering world at the start of her career.
But suddenly everything changed, as she was becoming the Spanish woman with the most eight-thousanders summited, and one of the candidates to be the first woman to complete all fourteen eight-thousanders.
The final obstacle remained: Shisha Pangma. One of the lower summits (8,027m) but no easier for it. They ultimately chose an alternative path, creating a new diagonal between Iñaki Ochoa de Olza's route and the Austrian route, which took them directly to the final section of the original ridge. This allowed them to avoid losing the 150 metres of altitude that had concerned them.
At 11:30 this morning, Nepalese time, Edurne thus fulfilled her dream of completing step by step the attack plan she had prepared for some time. The weather favoured them throughout the weekend, with decreasing wind strength and sunshine that made the ascent easier.
From Base Camp came reports of the team's arrival: "It's been spectacular, very emotional - both above and below it's a sea of tears and hugs. Edurne, Asier, Nacho and Alex have all succeeded, which doesn't surprise me at all as they're by far the best. My congratulations to a great team."
According to David Pérez, they had "some concern about the appearance of an intense cold wind in the final hours yesterday evening. The night started well when we noticed it was easing. However at 1:00am came the surprise: at that time some members of the other Spanish expedition arrived suffering from the cold. Without a moment's hesitation, our team took them into their tents, which slightly delayed their departure."
After four attempts, "the fifth time was the charm". After nearly three weeks waiting for the weather to improve - as the snow and wind left no opportunity to attack the summit - Edurne has become the first Spanish woman to reach all fourteen eight-thousanders, entering a very select group of mountaineers who achieve this. The team now awaits confirmation of whether she'll be the first woman to accomplish this feat, as doubts have emerged in recent weeks about whether Korean climber Oh Eun-Sun actually reached Kangchenjunga.
The Tolosa-born climber has already begun her descent to Base Camp, making use of the remaining daylight hours on the mountain to arrive later today.
