Sense of Beauty

 
Dr Irena Eris World

You don't fight with nature

You don't fight with nature Alpinist Monika Witkowska talks about the female side of alpine power, emotions and a mini SPA on the second highest mountain range on Earth – Karakorum.
Is there a gender gap in mountaineering?
I know many examples of girls performing physically as well as men. Even if we are a little weaker, the differences eventually blur. I, for example, at lower altitudes am weaker than men, and I’m not going to fight it. But higher up I make up for it, I acclimatize faster, and if you add female determination to that, ultimately it turns out that often my male companions don’t have to wait for me.

It's probably hard to generalize, because everyone is different, but what is our, women’s, advantage in this sport?
Women’s advantage is that even if we realize that we are physically weaker, we demonstrate our ability to plan and strategize. Men often take a forceful approach to many things, they want to go faster at all costs, to prove themselves, to prove that they can do it, and then it turns out that this is not an effective method in the long run. Women go their own way, sometimes perhaps slower, but in the end, we have it all better figured out.

Female mountaineers have the power!
In general, I’m not in favor of bidding in the mountains which gender is stronger - everyone should do their own thing. Undoubtedly, we have it harder because of physiology, and in the mountains, this is really noticeable. It’s not even a matter of hygienic considerations, but that during menstruation our body flushes out iron, which takes a toll on red blood cell count and oxygen distribution in the body. This weakens us severely, but does not eliminate us, because we women have a very strong psyche. This year there was a Chinese woman on K2 who climbed all the eight-thousanders without supplemental oxygen, and I must say that few men matched her. They laughed that she was probably from outer space! Simply put, the girl has an unbelievable aptitude.

I like your attitude, in one of the interviews you said that climbing is your passion. There is nothing you have to do and you don’t race against anyone.
It has always been much more important for me to experience, to explore, than to score more successes. I’m not about “patting” the summit and moving quickly to the next mountain. Of course, I appreciate those who break records, but that’s not my path. I believe that it is not so much the goal that’s important, but the journey to get there. Sometimes I prefer to reach my destination a little later, but have time to admire the views, exchange a few words with someone along the way, experience the here and now.

The process is more important than measurable success. It’s also the opposite of standing up and fighting to win. 
Everyone has a different approach to mountains, and I’m definitely more about traveling than sports. I’m often asked how many countries I’ve been to, and I once calculated that there were about 180, but for me it’s important to get to know them, not tick them off. My goal is not to visit every country in the world, and the same goes for the mountains. After expeditions, most climbers, coming down from the summit, want to return to civilization as soon as possible. On K2 this was very common – people, not yet reaching the base camp, connected by radio to order porters for them. I did connect too, but to ask the opposite. I wanted to make sure that, by chance, no one ordered me transportation right away, because I wanted to stay in this base for a while longer. This is an important time for me to internally digest the expedition. I want to have time for a personal conversation with the mountain.

In the language of mountaineering itself, there are terms, such as “summit attack,” suggesting that mountains are attacked, conquered and abandoned. And you once said that you climbed K2 because the mountain is simply beautiful and you have always liked it. That’s a completely different way of thinking and feeling.
Oh, I hate these military expressions so much. We once discussed the subject with a sailor friend and came to the conclusion that, after all, you don’t fight with nature, you just have to get along with it. For me it is important to bond with the mountain, even if ‘m not planning to conquer it – you see? I always hesitate to use this term, look for synonyms. I don’t treat any expedition as unsuccessful, each one has taught me something and always brings interesting experiences. There were mountains I went to for social reasons, but most of the ones I climbed, I chose because I liked them very much visually. K2 is undoubtedly phenomenal, and so is the Matterhorn, in the Western Alps (4,478 m), they, somehow, captivated me. The desire to know them and stay on the mountain, not to score another peak, is always the starting point for me to consider going on an expedition.
Fear can motivate you to make sensible decisions. My goal is not so much to reach the summit, but to return safely from the expedition, and preferably still without any frostbite.
What did the preparations for your last expedition to K2 look like?
Some female mountaineers laugh that getting funding is more difficult than climbing the mountain itself, because it is a very long and ungrateful process. I’m sorry to say this, but women are at a disadvantage, it happens that men get institutional funding more easily. When I was looking for sponsors, I reached out to the companies that fund Himalayan expeditions and, unfortunately, often got a refusal... All the more I appreciate those who trusted me and helped me fulfill another dream. A big thank you to Dr Irena Eris, which not only provided funds but also equipped me with cosmetics, which came in very handy! By the way, I learned a lot about how they work when I talked to the head of Dr Irena Eris Centre for Science and Research.

What did you take with you in your backpack?
On such expeditions, what you need the most is sunscreen – the Pharmaceris A Medic Protection SPF100+ protective face and body cream was my most essential cosmetic. At high altitudes, the sun burns the skin momentarily! When you descend from the altitude to the base there is no shower, but you can manage and somehow wash yourself, which is an incredible luxury in these conditions. After such a bath, when I come to the tent, I make myself a mini spa. The blue Dr Irena Eris Neometric Anti-Wrinkle Capsules For Eyes & Lips Area and, most importantly, the emollient barrier cream for face and body, from the Emotopic series, worked great for me. My skin gets very dry in the mountains, so professional moisturization was really a lifesaver!

Let’s say we have already collected the funds – what does the organization of such an expedition look like?
If we have our own team then we organize everything individually. If we don’t have one, we can join an international team – it is customary to use agencies that organize transportation and all permits. Trekking, i.e. getting to base camp, is done together with a larger team and then whatever you plan above base camp depends on individual strategies. Most often, people naturally get into teams. If you don’t have your own partners, you can climb with someone assigned by the agency, on K2 these are Nepalese Sherpas or Pakistanis popularly known as HAPs (from High Altitude Porters). Besides, spontaneous mini-teams also form among the climbers. Generally, in the mountains, we all support and help each other.

This year, the media showed a photo of a queue of people eager to climb K2, is it really that crowded there?
It just so happened that the photo shows a team from an agency founded by a Nepalese, Nirmal Purja called Nims. He has a military mode of managing climbers, no one goes individually, and everyone has to go together. But this is an exception, in other agencies everyone plans themselves when they want to go up. It is also not the case that there are some expeditions operating non-stop on K2. The so-called period of good weather was long this year anyway, as it lasted as long as a week. This “window” is the time when weather conditions give you a chance to climb to the peak.

Weather is probably the biggest unknown in the mountains?
On the eight-thousanders you have to assume that the weather can change quickly – this year I experienced it hard. To be on the summit on a certain day, you have to go out even in bad weather. I knew that going out I would experience difficult conditions, but that way it would get better on the summit – this is a roulette though because the weather can always surprise us.

Does anxiety get to you? How do you deal with it?
Climbing the Himalayas involves a great deal of risk. Of course I get scared before every expedition! I remember once I was doing a parachute course and asked the instructor if he was still afraid after so many jumps. He said: “Yes, of course I am afraid. If someone tells me that he is not afraid, he is either lying or out of his mind.” This is indeed the case, and this answer is very suitable for alpinism, too. Fear is normal for human beings, but it is important that it does not become paralyzing, causing confusion and terror. It should be a fear that motivates you to make sensible decisions, so that if something happens you can retreat wisely. You have to be able to balance it – my goal is not so much to reach the summit, but to return safely from the expedition, and preferably still without any frostbite.

What is the preparation like, are you stressed before the trip?
In the beginning, when I announce that I am planning an expedition – there is joy and excitement. It gets worse when the expedition is already approaching and there are a few days left until departure. At home, my husband walks around irritated and usually runs off to work. We both get nervous, because each of us realizes that I might just not come back from this trip. The closer we get to the expedition, the most I’d love to quit, but I just can’t, because everyone is already keeping their fingers crossed. The culmination is the farewell. At that time we are very careful with words, so that there is no “Goodbye,” but
a “See you soon.”
The desire to get to know the mountain and be on it, not to score another summit, is always the starting point or me when I’m considering an expedition.
 
Monika Witkowska (born in 1966 in Warsaw) – journalist, passionate traveler, Himalayan mountaineer, sailor, writer, trekking expedition leader and charity activist. She has been climbing eight-thousanders for ten years.

www.monikawitkowska.pl

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