Quito: Two Ecuadorian mountaineer will travel to the Himalayas in March, where they will seek to open a new climbing route.
Roberto Morales and Nicolas Navarrete have made individual expeditions to the Himalayas, but the challenge they have set for themselves in 2019 is greater, given that they will climb to a height of more than 8,000 metres above sea level after they ascended to 6,000 metres on their latest expedition, they told Efe in a joint statement on Sunday.
The trip is scheduled for mid-March and, although they still don't have the route they will take through the world's highest mountains selected or mapped out, their aim is to blaze a new trail for future climbers wanting to "touch the clouds".
"Every mountain is technically difficult, but you don't think about forgoing it, although you do ask yourself, because there are non-optimal conditions like loose or broken rock and material begins to fall from the mountain," said Morales, 29.
The climber, who has been practicing his discipline for more than 10 years, admits that "all mountains have given us good scares. We've had both little and big falls".
"We train six days a week for between three and 12 hours. When we're on the mountain, we do days of 12 hours or more and in the city we train in a climbing gym," said Morales.
Navarrete, 31, said that the mental preparation is his and his partner's big "strength", along with the motivation they have, due in large part to the unconditional support of their relatives.
"The hardest thing about the climbs is probably the economic part because the financing is the first step and it's pretty complicated. At times, there are expeditions that exceed $20,000 or $30,000 and collecting the funds isn't easy," he said.
Their routine once they're on the mountain begins at 3 a.m., when they have a quick breakfast, take their food supplements and begin the day's work, ascending to the next safe point or to the peak itself. Their climbs usually take between 12 and 46 hours.
The two men's paths crossed for the first time eight years ago when together they climbed a peak in Colombia and since then they've ascended peaks together all over the world.