His voice sounds tired over the crackling phone line from Kathmandu, and he admits that's just how he feels. Ferran Latorre (Barcelona, 1970) has just conquered Everest and the challenge of a lifetime, scaling another three enormous mountains over the eight thousand metre mark. If he wasn't tired, he'd be super-human. But Latorre is as human as his words, telling us about the difficulties and joys he has experienced in this latest conquest and he hints at a secret about the future.
Ferran, after so many years, when you are about to reach the summit, not only of this mountain but completing such an enormous challenge, what were the last few metres like? What were you thinking about?
As you can imagine, it's very emotional. Close to the top, it's not like your life flashes before you, because it's impossible to remember everything, but you feel like it's a very important moment in your life and you enjoy it, because you've been working for this for many years and it's a great thing to experience.
You've had a special relationship with Everest. Is that why you left it for the end?
I went to Everest when I first began with the CaixaBank sponsorship but it didn't work out. So I decided to leave it until last. It seems like a good, epic way to finish this project. It was what I wanted most of all as a teenager, what I focussed on in my ambitions to be a mountaineer so I chose to leave it until the end.
What was the most difficult thing about this ascent?
There was a critical moment. At about one in the morning, the sherpa who was with me decided to quit, he didn't feel well enough to continue and one of the regulators had broken. That sensation of being left alone, although there were other people on the mountain, but without the person you were planning on going up with... what's more, it was at a point when the weather was really bad, maybe the worst on the whole ascent, very windy, it was snowing harder.... it can make you doubt yourself. We'd been away from base camp for five days and anything can happen in that time. Another complicated moment was when I caught the flu or something similar. It gets you down, seeing that you're losing all that acclimatisation. During such a long expedition, you go through many psychological phases and there are times of doubt, times when you don't know how it's going to go for you. They are difficult situations.
There was plenty of news coming off the mountain. There was talk of over-crowding on the mountain. Were there really so many people on Everest this year?
Honestly, no. I believe that there were less people this year than in other seasons. 2012 really stands out but this year was normal. There are many more expeditions at the same time on Mont Blanc for example. I think people over-exaggerate what they say about Everest. Yes, there are other mountaineers but you don't feel like you are surrounded by people. The day we reached the summit, no more than thirty people made it and that's not an excessive number.
During this last stage, you worked with a research project funded by ”la Caixa” Banking Foundation to find out more about COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Would you encourage other mountaineers to join this type of project?
Of course. An important part of this expedition is that it was used for scientific research. In addition to being useful for sport and to motivate other people, I am proud that prestigious and talented researchers noticed me and this project to be able to contribute to their studies. Something that makes me happy about this challenge is that I believe that I have managed to build strong ties and friendships with many people.
Ferran, to finish off, you defined this challenge as "the challenge of a lifetime" but you are pretty young still, so the question I have to ask is... What next?
((laughs)) Now, I'd like to talk about this experience with other people to motivate them in their lives, in their personal projects, as in my case. I've still got time for another sporting project... but I'm not going to reveal that yet.
