ExWeb interview - Ivan Vallejo: "Luck is a dangerous religion"
Ivan Vallejo enjoying the buzz of Madrid streets at sunset last week. It was the perfect time to have a chat with the recent Nanga summiteer. Image ExplorersWeb (click to enlarge).
"I learned a precious lesson on Dhaulagiri. It is a dangerous mountain, and extremely tough too. Currently I need to climb three more 8000ers to complete all 14, and my attitude towards them is: On Kangchenjunga, I hope to reach the summit and have a safe descent. On Dhaulagiri and Annapurna, my main goal is to get out of there alive." Image of Ivan in Dhaula's BC, courtesy of Ivan Vallejo (click to enlarge).
Ivan Vallejo (left) and Spaniard Nacho Orviz on the summit of Nanga Parbat, on July 20th, 2005. Ivan and Nacho became friends on Makalu last year, and plan to try Kangchenjunga together next year. Image courtesy of Ivan Vallejo (click to enlarge).
06:31 am CDT Aug 12, 2005
Ivan Vallejo, 46, is a lucky guy. He took a big risk when he quit his career as an electrical engineer to climb full-time in Himalaya – something considered kind of an eccentric hobby in his home country of Ecuador.
Then, one by one, the greatest peaks on Earth surrendered their summit. Until Kanchenjunga resisted. Ivan has had an astonishing success ratio, and never even helped his luck by using supplementary O2. Much like the Sherpa people, he was born at altitude (residing at 2800m and training at 3000m). In fact, he is one among only seven people who have summited Everest from both sides w/o O2.
His fortune didn’t go un-noticed among climbers: Many expedition leaders would invite him to join their teams, considering the Ecuadorian as a lucky charm to warrant the summit.
Luck is a dangerous religion
There was a drawback in the process though: The risk of believing too much in one’s luck – and Ivan fell. Tasting the glory of completing the 14, 8000ers prematurely, he got a blow by reality, in the shape of snow and wind, in a place he didn’t expect it: On Dhaulagiri.
However, we don’t learn from our victories, but from our failures. Ivan learned a priceless lesson with the several frustrated attempts on that elusive summit, and the sad way back home. He reflected, looked deep inside his heart - and then back up on the mountain – now seeing it in a different way.
He returned to the Himalayas more humble and wise. The reward was waiting for him on the summit of Nanga Parbat.
Madrid’s summer in celebration-mode
Nanga may have been one of the sweetest successes in Ivan’s life. ExWeb caught up with the climber during his short stay in Madrid some days back. Overjoyed by his recent summit, it was the perfect moment to have a chat with Ivan.
ExplorersWeb: How are you doing Ivan – still celebrating Nanga’s summit?
Ivan: Yes, indeed. It feels great to enjoy the day, knowing the homework’s done!
ExplorersWeb: Success must be specially sweet after Dhaulagiri...
Ivan: That’s true. But I must say I learned a precious lesson on Dhaulagiri. It was extremely tough there, mentally exhausting and also very dangerous… But I learned a great deal from that peak.
I got to BC thinking it would take a mere couple of weeks to walk up that hill, take a picture from the summit, and get some cool training, before the real goal: Annapurna. Three weeks later, I found myself hopeless in front of a mighty, furious mountain… We tried, and waited, and tried again, risking too much in those conditions, forgetting our human limits… All for nothing.
Explorersweb: What were your thoughts?
Ivan: Mostly, the terrible question someone should never ask himself when on a mountain: “What the hell am I doing here?” When we surrendered, we had no motivation left for Annapurna, specially as Christian Kuntner had just died there. I was in a state of shock – all I wanted was to go home and see my daughter again.
I went home and told no one but my family and some friends, with whom I went to Cotopaxi – my mountain, a peak I have climbed so many times and that have provided me with so many great moments.
I climbed quietly, enjoying the feeling of being, looking to find some peace and also to make peace with mountaineering. Luckily, my home-land Andes didn’t let me down. I recovered the joy of climbing, and walked down that peak ready again for the Himalayas. A couple of days later, I took a plane to Pakistan.
Explorersweb: Do you reckon you underestimated Dhaulagiri?
Ivan: Absolutely! It is a dangerous mountain, and extremely tough too. Let me tell you: Currently I need to climb three more 8000ers to complete all 14, and my attitude towards them is: On Kangchenjunga, I hope to reach the summit and have a safe descent. On Dhaulagiri and Annapurna, my main goal is to survive.
Explorersweb: How do you feel about Nanga?
Ivan: Oh, Nanga was great! On the summit day I climbed really well, strong, happy and motivated. A real pleasure. The entire expedition was great, even if they had to endure weeks of bad weather before grabbing a weather window.
Explorersweb: We read in your dispatches and those from your team-mates, that you complained bitterly about the weather forecasts...
Ivan: Well, yeah. In my opinion, basing all your plans and hopes on the forecasts may be negative. Sometimes we had different forecasts from different sources and they provided contradictory information. Other times we moved following the forecasts, and when the situation was not as predicted, we got so mad… The fact is, I’ve climbed some 8000ers without any forecast, simply looking at the sky, trying to smell the storms – and it actually worked for me!
Don’t get me wrong though: Weather forecasts are extremely useful, a great help I will never deny, but it is not the only factor to have in mind when climbing up such big mountains.
Explorersweb: How was the mood in BC, with your Spanish mates?
Ivan: Ha, ha...really nice! The truth is, I spent all the time trying to start a party. In addition, as BC is a grass field and not so high, I seized the occasion to teach my climbing mates how to dance salsa. That was so cool! Since that day, all Pakistani working in BC would point at me and greet me: “Hey, you good dancer! Very good dancer!”
Relations with other teams were also really nice. Keep in mind, everybody on Nanga Parbat are mountaineers – that makes a different environment than the one I’ve seen, for instance, on Everest, where there is much crowding and you find people with very different standards and motivations.
Next: In the second part of the interview, Ivan will speak on his future plans and his atraction to all kind of challenges, from Polar expeditions to... bull-fighting.
Iván Vallejo was born in Ambato, Ecuador, on 19th of December, 1959. A natural born climber, he soon summited the main Andean peak of his home land, and gave up everything for the Himalayas. He summited Manaslu and Broad Peak, but it was Everest that made him famous, after he became the first Ecuadorian to summit in 1999 – and without supplementary O2.
Ivan is currently involved in completing the 14, 8000ers. He accomplished his latest success on Nanga Parbat, where he climbed as member of a Spanish TV team, along with Edurne Pasaban, Josu Bereciartua, Marianne Chapuisat, and Esther Sabadell. Italian Silvio Mondinelli also joined the team. All of them summited on July 20th, 2005.
Nanga is Ivan’s 11th 8000er. Or, better said, it is his 12th, as he has summited Everest twice (both w/o O2 through opposite sides).
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