Born in Tolosa, Gipuzkoa, on August 1, 1973, Edurne’s journey began in the mountains of her homeland, unaware that one day she would carve her name in the history of alpinism. “Raised in a land of mountains, Edurne spent her youth embracing the rugged landscapes of the Pyrenees.”
At 15, she began rock climbing with her cousin Asier, a future companion on many of her eight-thousander expeditions. A year later, she summited Mont Blanc, igniting a passion that would take her across the world.
She earned a degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of the Basque Country, later obtaining a Master’s in Human Resource Management from ESADE Business School. She worked in the family business, PASABAN S.A., a leader in paper-cutting technology, before founding her own country hotel and restaurant, Abeletxe. “Mountaineering was never meant to be her career, but the mountains had other plans.” The call of the giants was impossible to ignore.
Her first Himalayan expedition was to Dhaulagiri in 1998. Though she didn’t reach the summit, it was a taste of what was to come.
In 2001, Edurne summited Everest (8,848m), her first eight-thousander, sparking an unrelenting drive to climb all 14 of the world’s highest peaks. Between 2001 and 2003, she reached the summits of Makalu, Lhotse, and the two Gasherbrums. The 2001 Dhaulagiri expedition ended in tragedy when her climbing partner, Pepe Garcés, perished. Attempting K2 in 2004 with the team from ‘Al Filo de lo Imposible,’ Edurne endured brutal conditions, freezing temperatures, and exhaustion. She descended with frostbite, resulting in the amputation of two toes—yet her resolve remained unshaken.
In the time of Himalayanism we are living in today, where speed and records matter, and where mountain values and ethics seem to sometimes disappear. My response doesn’t seem to fit. These photos I share with you are from the year 1999, trying to climb Everest from the north face, without oxygen and with only 2 friends. On that expedition, at 26 years old, I suffered my first freezes, I saw a fellow fall from 8300 meters and we lost him, there we turned around.
She took time to recover, questioning whether she would ever return to the mountains. In 2005, she summited Nanga Parbat, slowly reigniting her passion. It was on Shishapangma, in 2006, that she truly regained her motivation, climbing with close friends instead of media crews. In 2010, she summited Shishapangma, becoming the first woman to officially complete all 14 peaks. The grueling challenge took a toll on her mind and body, leading her to advocate for mental health in extreme sports.
On one hand, the accomplishment is simply personal and not influenced by gender. Also as an elite athlete, I try to leave social and political agendas out of my professional life. On the other hand, as a woman, I think we have the tendency to underestimate ourselves and believe that there are many things that we aren’t capable of simply because we are women. I didn’t set out to prove anything, but if I can be a reference to help women believe in themselves, I will be very content with that.
Photographs: Edurne Pasaban, AI, Social Media (Rights reserved to respective owners)
