FIRST CLIMBER TO CONQUER EVEREST IN 2005 was a woman: Rosa Maria Fernandez her story

Rosa Fernandez: "Everything went better than what I expected"

The Asturian climber Rosa Fernandez, the first climber to reach the summit of Everest in 2005, said that "she did not think that being the first one to reach summit this year was so important", she thinks that taking the right decision on the moment of attempting the summit was a "hunch", and added that "it went all better than what she had dreamt".

Fernandez, who is in advanced base camp, located at 6,400 meters, achieved her third eight-thousand of her sports career, since she already counted with G-II and Makalu, when she crowned the "Mother Goddess" while taking advantage of the first opportunity given by the weather but assuming the risks of opening the trail.

Along with Dawa, her Sherpa of trust, to whom this success is the fourth summit on the highest mountain of the Earth (8,848 meters), Rosa Fernandez is recovering after spending 24 hours without eating because of lack of food and beverages, which forced them to eat snow, alternated with candy, during the descent.

The climber dreams now with a shower, eat some yogurt and have a bottle of water.  "I think those are the coolest things", sighed Fernandez, who thinks that she had lost some 10 kilos, which is a variation of her weight from 57 to 47, more or less.

"After achieving the objective, now my immediate challenge is to take Dawa to Spain, it would be very nice if he can go with me to Asturias", said the climber, who in her adventure summary detailed some emotional moments like the one she lived at some 150 meters from the summit, when the oxygen bottle ran out, but she was so excited that she didn't realize it.

"Climbing on the 21st was a hunch, we have been on the 17th on the North Col, we went down because of the infernal weather and that night when I was in the tent thinking I received a couple of messages that said that the good weather would be between the 19 and 20, and I commented that to Dawa and he confessed that he had the same feelings as me, that we could get there on the 21st", she continued.

The last meters: In her summary of the last meters before the summit she revealed: "There is a piece of the ridge that was not equipped because it is very difficult, although if you go carefully with the piolet you don't have problems, and in that part there are three dead bodies from last year, Dawa said better not look at them because you can think that you could end up like them".

"After going through that part the summit is seen, although you can not see where you climb, because you have to change faces, it is one of the nicest mountains I ever climbed, it is precious because it has a part of snow, it has rocks like steps, it looks a little like a mountain in Asturias, close to Naranjo del Bulnes", she said.

"It was curious, the wind blew constantly and there was a cloud in the summit.  The Sherpas that were installing equipment threw prayers to the wind, as if they were playing cards, and made some prayers, maybe afraid because it was not very clear", she remembered.

Once up there, on the roof of the Earth, it was "something impressive to achieve something that you have been thinking about for several years", she said that Dawa told her and she couldn't believe it, and the ended when the Sherpas rose "to the air those cries of celebration".

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

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