Day 19 – 6th of August – Summit! 7105 m – special article by Miguel
This is Miguel’s opinion about the summit day, a special article that I received by email from a very special friend. Thank you.
“Wow, we woke up too late… It’s 5:30 o’clock”, I thought when we started to climb the last eight hundred meters that separated us from the top. But in the end, it would be a lucky day…
As we were climbing, some clouds began to form that would not deviate from the summit during the climb… That discouraged me a little, because we wouldn’t see anything from above. But there was only up and up, winning every meter at that really large edge.
And, in a few hours, we went into the cloud. From this point, about 6,800 meters, the ascent became very heavy and boring, moving in the fog, seeing nothing and very unmotivated. The idea of having spent so much effort to reach now the summit and can not see anything, was really overwhelming.
At that time, I started to get into my rhythm and distanced myself from my partners. I just wanted to reach summit, take some pictures of nonsense rigor in the middle of that dense fog on and start to go down. I looked at my clock, which marked more than 7,000 meters, and followed up. I was climbing the last mixed part before reaching the summit when, suddenly and to my astonishment, the cloud which had spent all the morning hiding the top began to fade. At that time, I started to climb as quickly as I could, and with enormous enthusiasm walked the last meters that separated me from the summit, with the intention of photographing all what I could before the clouds return to wrap it all up. And so, step by step, I reached the 7,105 meters at the top of Korjenevskaya.
And what can I say…
Down below, a dense sea of clouds covered the horizon, emerging from there the powerful Pamir mountains, bringing me some feelings hard to explain with words. All the bad moments, the bad nights trying to sleep, the dangerous days in Chetyrekh by myself [Miguel climbed the summit by himself, alone, in a terrible weather – n.a], the hard last climbing days, all just disappeared sinking me in a huge abyss of happiness and peace. It was very nice to reach the summit in complete loneliness, and those minutes waiting for my partners, alone on the summit, with the wind, the cold and the amazing view, are engraved in my memory as if it were a dream.
But mountain is better if you share your feelings, and I remember how good it was to hug my teammates when they got the top. Share the happiness within the tiredness, the rapid breathing, the perpetual smile in our faces. At last we had achieved our common project, and there we were, four young climbers and friends, watching the world below our feet, at the limits of Pamir’s Range. Ahead, two days of dangerous and hard descent, on our way to base camp.
Just a few words more. Thanks for letting me share this with you, big guys. And hope to share another expedition, maybe, up to 8,000 meters!
A big embrace from Spain.
Miguel.