Posted: Apr 24, 2009 10:00 am EDT
(MountEverest.net) Yesterday Joao told ExWeb how he, to guard himself from loss, makes fewer friends in the mountains these days. He spoke about his climb on K2 in 2007, and recalled sweet memories from Kangchenjunga.

In this second and final part of the interview, Joao talks from Manaslu BC how he discovered climbing on Mont Blanc at age 16, what he thinks about mountaineering in general, and the role of genes on altitude.

ExplorersWeb: Your Everest climb was published in a beautiful limited edition comics book illustrated by Ricardo Cabral. Will there be a K2 follow up?

Joao: A friend challenged me to turn my Everest story into a BD or comics book. The idea was mostly to allow kids to understand what happened to me on Everest, but I guess their parents loved the book even more than their children did... If I'm lucky to summit all the 14, 8000ers I may ask Ricardo Cabral to collaborate with me again.

ExplorersWeb: In your previous interview with ExWeb some years back you said, "I think there’s a lot of cruelty on Everest – it is actually different on all other mountains… Everest is more than a mountain: It is a symbol of power. Therefore most people attempting to reach that summit are not true climbers; they are rich guys searching for a trophy to take home."

It sounded a lot like Inaki Ochoa, Juanito Oiarzabal and others - do you still feel that way and do you think that this is a general opinion among mountaineers, or just the view of a select few?

Joao: I don't know, I don't discuss these kind of things with other climbers. But one thing is certain, an increasing number of people trying Everest have never climbed a 7000 or 8000 meter peak before! And they are using artificial O2 more and more - these are just plain stats!

ExplorersWeb: You said that the problem with supplementary oxygen is that it provides an artificial aid which if something goes wrong with it, leaves the climbers with no resources and energy reserves to survive. How many of your own summits were without oxygen?

Joao: I never ever climbed with artificial O2! Simply because that's the way I want to climb: doing something superior and keep growing as a climber as well as a human being.

ExplorersWeb: You became the first Portuguese Everest summiteer, and last summer the first Broad Peak Portuguese summiteer. How many of your peaks were Portuguese firsts?

Joao: Cho-Oyu, Dhaulagiri, Everest, GII, GI, Lhotse, Shisha Pangma, K2, Broad Peak, 9 in total if I'm not mistaken.

ExplorersWeb: Portugal is fairly unknown as a high mountaineering nation; shadowed by one of the greatest: Spain. Why do you think that is?

Joao: I guess Portugal is a little behind for lack of organization and national representative. The Portuguese UIAA representative is a Camping Federation! There are good rock climbers in Portugal; we have great natural resources along with nice weather. Which explains why we don’t have a single climbing gym - not even one on 8 million people. At that same number in population they have about 200 in Belgium...

ExplorersWeb: So where do you go climbing in Portugal, and any cool treks you'd recommend? Btw, can people hire you as a guide?

Joao: Portugal is a great place to visit in general for its culture and tasty, Atlantic food. If you are a climber or simply a trekker, there are lots of places to go and things to do.

I live close to Lisbon (Ed note: the capital and largest city of Portugal) where you have 2 or 3 good places for sports climbing or even classic rock climbs within 30 minutes. If you are looking for a big scenario, I would advise Serra da Estrela 300km NE of Lisbon were you can trek and climb nice granite. I don't guide anymore but I can recommend some good friends for the job.

ExplorersWeb: Some climbers say they have a gene making it easier for them to endure altitude; have you tested for it?

Joao: Well, yes and no... I did those VO2Max tests and other but they don't offer the maximum for what I do best - climbing at 8000m. While I may have some kind of a special gene, mostly I think that I'm fit because I have done lots of sports since childhood. I did triathlons when I was younger and worked as a guide for more that 10 years. Only in 2003 for instance I went to Aconcagua, Pumori, the Alps, Elbrus, Himlung Himal and Vinson - all in one year... such things make me fit I think.

Genes are not everything; take the children of my Kathmandu agent. They studied in KTM and then abroad. Now they can't climb half as fast as I can and they are Sherpa blood. Yak boys who didn't have the same chance could eventually become altitude Sherpas because they are fit. My theory is that the new generation of strong altitude porters is the Tamangs, Gurungs and Gurkas as they have minimum 15 years of hard training/hard work while most Sherpa children are in Kathmandu.

ExplorersWeb: You seem to keep your sponsors over long periods; what is your advice for such long-term partnership?

Joao: I guess that the many years of small television documentaries I gave to the Portuguese public at some point made me a credible publicity investment.

ExplorersWeb: Have you suffered in the current economic downturn?

Joao: No, on the contrary. My image has become even more important now to show the public that Millennium and I don’t give up: that you can climb even the highest mountains with organization, hard work and passion.

ExplorersWeb: You started using high-speed modems early. What are the pros and cons?

Joao: No cons on the contrary, small is beautiful but so limited... the society wants more small films and nice pictures with less written text. The only thing about high-speed modems is that they are still limiting the quality size of the videos, but personally I can't complain. High speed modems are tools of the modern professional climber.

ExplorersWeb: Should you succeed on Manaslu; which two tops are left and what's your plan for them?

Joao: Although I summited the last 9, 8000m mountains in my first attempt I can't guarantee success on Manaslu which is also taking longer than I thought. Nanga Parbat will be next if I feel OK for it. I will try Annapurna in 2010. Carlos, Edurne and all the Spanish gang will be there and it will be fun for sure.

ExplorersWeb: Any thoughts yet of what's next after you're "done"?

Joao: I honestly don't know. I'll have to ask my body and my wife...

ExplorersWeb: Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

Joao: Home and well! This is the most important in an expedition, to give your best and to come back home in one piece. The summit is only a bonus, the cherry on top of the cake!

ExplorersWeb: You've set camp 1 and camp 2 on Manaslu, and made a carry to camp 3. What are the tricky sections and what is you biggest worry right now?

Joao: I don't trust C2 for its avalanche danger. The way from C1 to C2 is full of ugly crevasses so I only keep a deposit there with less important gear. I will try to go back to C3 in the next days to sleep a night at 6800 meters and then go back to BC.

Vitor (my weather man) says that even though the air is dry the wind is still too strong on summit level. We will have to wait for a big front to arrive and push the jet-stream away. We have no idea when that will happen and this is the fun of it!

[Ed note: the interview was made over last weekend.]

ExplorersWeb: What has been the most important lesson from the mountains and anything you would have done different in hindsight?

Joao: I was 16 when I climbed for the first time. It was on Mont Blanc and I was with a climbing group of adults. I was the kid no one counted on but I summited before them and some didn’t make it at all.

At that top I discovered that this is a fair job, a fair sport - where only those who commit and make a big effort succeed. Not those who are older, have more money or better gear! For more lessons, you'll have to read my first book!

Portuguese Joao Garcia (born on June 11th, 1967) is currently climbing Manaslu. Should he succeed, only Nanga Parbat and Annapurna would remain on his 14x8000ers list.

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