© Gabriel Tarso
Sabrina Filzmoser from Thalheim near Wels is one of the most successful professional athletes in our country. She was there first hand when the tragedy happened at the end of July on K2 in Pakistan involving the injured high porter Mohammad Hassan. There were incredible images: several people climbed over the dying Pakistani on the way to the summit. Hardly anyone helps. We spoke to the 43-year-old about that day.
The two-time European judo champion Sabrina Filzmoser is an academic, pilot, police student, extreme mountain climber and mountain biker and supports aid projects in the Himalayas. Last year she set off on her mountain bike in India at sea level and cycled all the way to Nepal to climb Mount Everest without artificial oxygen. Due to her frostbite, she had to use artificial oxygen on the last few meters to the summit of Mount Everest. For Filzmoser, her expeditions are not about records, but about sustainability and humanity. Their goal is to generate attention for the people and their living conditions in these regions. This year’s K2 project took her from Islamabad in Pakistan by mountain bike to K2, the second highest and most dangerous mountain in the world. However, on July 27th, in Camp 3, shortly before the finish, she decided against climbing the summit. A day that was covered in the media. On the one hand, the Norwegian Kristin Harila completed the record of the fastest ascent of all 14 eight-thousanders, and on the other hand, the high porter Mohammad Hassan died on the way to the summit. The suspicion of failure to provide assistance went viral in the media and criticism of mass tourism on the 8,000-meter peaks is now becoming increasingly louder.
Ms. Filzmoser, what challenges are the most difficult to overcome when climbing mountains like Mount Everest or K2?
On the one hand, there are the logistics, as I usually have a lot of judogi, sports, cycling and climbing equipment with me, which I distribute to the Sherpas, high porters, my Everest judo kids and the Nepal Cycling School on site. Physically, the main thing is the long time it takes to acclimatize sufficiently at this altitude. Mentally, the biggest challenges are the patience required, dealing with setbacks due to weather conditions and waiting for approvals from the authorities.
How do you prepare for such expeditions?
Of course, my past as a top athlete helps me, but I have also been traveling a lot in the mountains of Austria and around the world since I was a child. My participation in the “High Altitude” competitions such as the “Yak Attack MTB Race” in Nepal (silver and two bronze) and the “Tour of the Dragon” Bhutan MTB were certainly good preparation for top performance at these altitudes. Race (Gold), the toughest mountain bike one-day race in the world.
The weather conditions, the risk of avalanches and the high number of climbers on K2 this year have forced you to turn back. How much do these factors influence the success of such expeditions?
Of course very much. The decision to turn back shortly before the finish is extremely complex. I was on the mountain for more than seven weeks and acclimatized excellently. Since I was traveling exclusively with Pakistanis and without artificial oxygen in such weather conditions, the risk was almost above the limit, so the decision to stop was not difficult for me.
Sabrina Filzmoser (right) supports the people in the Himalayas. Like here during her visit to the Sir Edmund Hillary Khumjung School, the highest judo school in the world – and which she co-founded – at 3,790 meters. © private
On July 27, they were in Camp 3, a few hundred meters below the accident site where Mohammad Hassan died. How did you experience the tragedy?
When all participants from the commercial expeditions set off almost at the same time at night, despite the difficult conditions, it was clear to me: I don’t need to try without artificial oxygen given the risk of avalanches and high wind speeds. Standing in a traffic jam for hours on K2, under the bottleneck and the traverse at 8,200 meters, you can only do that with enough artificial oxygen and good support. When the accident occurred, all of the mountaineers had already been standing in waist-deep snow for two to three hours and had experienced at least two major avalanches and several smaller snow slabs. Some climbers got snow but were not injured, except for Hassan, who was hanging on the rope five meters below the trail. Only two climbers helped pull him up under the most difficult conditions; all the others decided to continue climbing or to use their oxygen exclusively for the summit attempt. Only three or four groups turned back. That was the Austrian Furtenbach team (including the ServusTV team and mountain guide Philip, who took the drone footage) as well as two American companies and two to three mountaineers who, like me, wanted to try it without artificial oxygen.
It was the first assignment as a high-altitude porter for 27-year-old Mohammad Hassan; previously the Pakistani worked exclusively in the base camp. Why would someone like this attempt to climb the most dangerous mountain in the world?
Since the major avalanche disaster on Mount Everest in 2014, in which 21 Sherpas were buried and 16 died, Nepalese companies have had their own mountain guide training and appropriate equipment. Pakistan is lagging behind. There is neither sufficient schooling nor mountain training nor the appropriate equipment to survive in the high mountains. Nevertheless, the Sherpas take the risk because they want to use this money to keep their families alive for months, to pay school fees or, as in Hassan’s case, to pay the doctor for their sick mother.
What do you think needs to change so that something like this doesn’t happen anymore?
The government in Pakistan, like that in Nepal, must provide support and requirements to insure and encourage these “High Altitude Heroes” to procure proper material and safe equipment. The tourism minister in Gilgit-Baltistan must and must not only welcome foreign companies, but should also definitely support the local ones. But as corrupt as the country is at the moment, that won’t happen any time soon, but the chances have never been higher since the accident happened. With the foresight towards more humanity, a greater sense of responsibility has also flared up among foreign mountaineers.
How do you personally deal with the disappointment of not achieving your goal this year?
Of course, I always think with a focus on sports, but as a top athlete I have learned to gain more from disappointments and setbacks than from successes. The inner attitude, asking why and analyzing the situation are the most important things. Failure is actually not tragic. My frequent failures haven’t made me any softer, just tougher. In failure we experience our limitations. As Reinhold Messner already wrote.
In addition to the sporting aspect, your K2 expedition is also characterized by a humanitarian concern…
I want to set an example and show that everyone can and should do their part. I hope that my documentary “Forever Everest”, which I produced with the International Judo Federation (IJF), will be an incentive to get people to support me. With intellectual foresight and the necessary commitment, anyone can jump over their shadow and realize how badly 99 percent of humanity has it in developing countries around the world.
My frequent failures haven’t made me any softer, just tougher. In failure we experience our limitations.
Sabrina Filzmoser
What other goals and challenges would you like to tackle in your mountaineering career?
I enjoy traveling as sustainably as possible by bike and on foot. Many people pay a lot of money to get to the base camp as quickly as possible, but forget how important the journey there is. That’s something that’s often lost these days – learning to deal with your surroundings, feeling in, thinking and adapting – very few people manage to do that. It always has to be faster and often only the summit counts. This is extremely unfortunate. Many people should rethink the definition of “success” and work on it for themselves.
More information about Sabrina Filzmosers
Projects and donation opportunities
can be found at: www.everest-judo.com
Instagram: @sabshero and @forevereverest2022
2023-10-13 13:21:32
#foresight #humanity #Upper #Austrian
