Alex Txikon returns to winter Everest.

After attempting K2 earlier this year, Alex Txikon is preparing to face Everest again in winter, to which he already launched two attempts in 2016-17 and 2017-18. “Third time’s the charm,” Alex said of his upcoming assault on the highest mountain on the planet, at 8,848m, in the most extreme conditions. “We will also take advantage of the K2 experience, where we learned a lot.” This time, Everest will be the culmination of a triple adventure that will begin on December 14, 2019, when Txikon, accompanied by Juanra Madariaga, embarks on an expedition that will sail around the South Shetland Islands, in the Antarctic Peninsula. To do this, starting from Punta Arenas, in Chile, they will have to cross the dangerous Drake Passage and go out into the open sea until they reach the islands. Once there and taking the ship as a base, the expedition members will explore the islands, which are very mountainous, and will carry out a series of approaches on foot and with skis to unclimbed peaks or where they can open new routes.

At the beginning of January, and with just two days off, Txikon will fly to Nepal. There he will meet Félix Criado and Íñigo Gutiérrez Arce who, meanwhile, will have driven all the way from Spain to Kathmandu on a 13,000km journey through 12 countries, carrying out various humanitarian actions at some points along the way. Once everyone is together, they will hike from Lukla to Ama Dablam Base Camp, considered one of the most beautiful mountains on earth and quite a challenge in winter. In this section they will also be accompanied by a group of disabled mountaineers from the AMIAB association (National Associative Entity of Social Economy declared of Public Utility with headquarters in Albacete, which joins this project with a clear objective: to visualize full inclusion). Txikon will lead a team of nine people in the climb to Ama Dablam, which, in addition to its intrinsic value, will serve as physical and mental preparation and as acclimatization for Everest, whose base camp is also relatively close, at the head of the valley. of the Khumbu.

This will facilitate the logistics and speed of movement of the team. For Everest, Alex will join forces with Oscar Cardo and Jonatan Garcia, as well as Nepalese Chhiji Nurbu Sherpa, Pechhumbe Sherpa and Tenjen Sherpa. All of them are expert eight-thousanders. Oscar Cardo, a resident firefighter in Albacete, has to his credit the summits of Everest and Cho Oyu, while Joanatan García, from Barakaldo, has reached the summits of Annapurna and Manaslu. In addition, they will have the help of the appreciated “ice doctors”, Sherpas specialized in finding and equipping with ropes and aluminum ladders one of the most dangerous areas of Everest: the Khumbu icefall. It is a labyrinth of cracks and seracs (giant blocks of glacial ice) in slow but constant movement, and that it is necessary to cross to reach Camp 1, the first of the four altitude camps that are installed on Everest along the route chosen, that of the South Col. In addition to climbing, the expedition will carry out topographic and meteorological studies using powerful drones, while photographer Diego Martínez, a specialist in analogue photography, will document the expedition for future exhibitions. y a la