Rosa Fernández is an Asturian mountaineer who has spent her entire life dedicated to adventure sports, especially those in which improvement personal is very important, such as escalada. Thanks to this sport he has managed to conquer Everest and concluded the "Seven Summits" project, where he climbed the seven highest peaks in the world.
But he does not leave aside other practices such as mountain biking, thanks to which he has traveled the Himalayan mountain range, surpassing So a personal challenge. He has written two books and is still thinking about new challenges, because with the doctors' discharge in hand, he is planning to return to the Himalayas. We wish you all the luck in the world for your next adventure.
Yumping.- Of pure Asturian stock, you grew up surrounded by mountains. Tell us, when did you start mountaineering?
Rosa Fernández.- Yes, I was born in a small mountain town. I started mountaineering with my husband and friends. My first mountains were the Picos de Europa in the eighties.
Y.- Once you decide that you want to dedicate yourself to mountain sports, do you receive support from your loved ones?
R.F.- Yes, I have always been able to count on their support, although they have never liked it very much.
And.- How did your training start?
R.F.- I had always done sports as a hobby, but what I did was start dedicating more hours to the mountains and concentrate my efforts on improving my physical conditions to endure marches of many hours and consecutive days
Y.- In 1997 you made your first expedition to the Himalayas. Do you remember what the planning was like?
R.F.- I remember that there were seven guys and they wanted to add a woman to the group with the idea of getting sponsors more easily. Curiously, they first told my husband, he thought it was a good idea and then they invited me to join the group. I had climbed the Matterhorn in '96 and that had given me some notoriety. Some of them had already been to the Himalayas.
Everything was very natural, spontaneous and with many doubts; It took us months to organize and complete preparations to march. It was all so new to me and so rewarding that I became fascinated by the big mountains. Everything went very well.
And.- Once you reached the top, what was the first thing that crossed your mind?
R.F.- I was happy and calm, the landscape was incredible, with a sunny day and a deep blue sky. I felt so good that I didn't feel like going down. I thought that that experience would be repeated and the sooner the better. In those years communications were not like today and until ten days later we were not able to give the news of our success to our families, who did not know anything about us for weeks.
Y.- You have visited different places and climbed countless mountains: Gasherbrum II, Shisha Pagma, Dhaulagiri, Everest... Which place has surprised you the most?
R.F.- The Himalayas have no possible comparison with any other place, and Everest it is the mountain that has it all: the most complete, the most beautiful (at least for me), and although I already expected all of that, it did not disappoint me at all.
But all mountains are beautiful and have their own personality, perhaps I was surprised by the Carstenz Pyramid on the island of Papua New Guinea. Beautiful and remote; After a trip to the antipodes I find characteristics very similar to our Picos de Europa, but with more than double the altitude, a great place, although the difficulty of access makes it almost impossible for mountaineers.
And.- Being a mountaineer, why did you decide to cross the Himalayas by bicycle?
R.F.- My husband, who in addition to giving me the mountain bug, also introduced me to the world of mountain biking; On the other hand, we have a bicycle shop, and I had information that it was possible to do Lhasa Kathmandu by bicycle and see the north face of Everest. He promoted that adventure in 2002 and finally I was the one who carried it out. Well, I wanted to see Everest and I had been looking for a way to climb it for years; I finally went in 2003. I repeated the bicycle tour again in 2007.
Y.- The "Seven Summits" challenge was a very important point in your sports career. How did the idea come about?
R.F.- In 2005 I summited Everest and had a very favorable time to obtain financing, since the seven summits require an enormous financial cost in a fairly short time. My Another advantage was that I was going to the mountains alone and the expenses were for only one person. Even so, when the time came for me to go to Antarctica, all my effort was about to be lost because I did not have enough budget to cover the expenses.
I finally got it. I did the seven mountains in less than two years, doing everything myself, even finding the flights and planning each trip step by step. For me it was a great joy to reach the foot of each mountain, because there I only depended on myself; It was stressful to be able to get going from Asturias to the destination.
And.- What type of training must be followed to rise to the occasion?
R.F.- You have to set yourself a constant, hard training that helps you with physical resistance and to be prepared for any weather condition, to walk and climb day or night, with cold and storms, with snow ...you have to get used to everything. And, above all, you have to have mental training, patience and knowing how to wait for conditions to be favorable, knowing not to risk more than necessary and knowing how to cover your back.
The more time passes, the more I realize that mental toughness is the most necessary quality. I have seen strong mountaineers like the best athlete lose their temper and retreat, defeated, sometimes almost without a fight.
Y.- Currently, what is the day-to-day life of an athlete like you?
R.F.- Aerobic training in the morning, with a bike especially. Gym in the afternoon, to especially strengthen some areas, stretching and recovery. On the other hand, I have a knee injury that prevents me from running and I have to improve it for my next expedition, but it doesn't worry me much, because it seems that after several months of working on it, it is improving.
Y.- In 2009 you underwent surgery for breast cancer. Even so, you decided to try to reach Broad Peak, 8,046m. Has it been the most difficult challenge of your life?
R.F.- It has been a CHALLENGE in capital letters, the important thing was not only the summit, it was to test myself, to check if my mental strength was still intact and if my physical strength, evidently diminished, could be even at the height of the circumstances. It was a unique experience, the doctors calculated the right moment to take a two-month break in my treatment and then resume it at my Another advantage was that I was going to the mountains alone and the expenses were for only one person. Even so, when the time came for me to go to Antarctica, all my effort was about to be lost because I did not have enough budget to cover the expenses.
I finally got it. I did the seven mountains in less than two years, doing everything myself, even finding the flights and planning each trip step by step. For me it was a great joy to reach the foot of each mountain, because there I only depended on myself; It was stressful to be able to get going from Asturias to the destination.
And.- What type of training must be followed to rise to the occasion?
R.F.- You have to set yourself a constant, hard training that helps you with physical resistance and to be prepared for any weather condition, to walk and climb day or night, with cold and storms, with snow ...you have to get used to everything. And, above all, you have to have mental training, patience and knowing how to wait for conditions to be favorable, knowing not to risk more than necessary and knowing how to cover your back.
The more time passes, the more I realize that mental toughness is the most necessary quality. I have seen strong mountaineers like the best athlete lose their temper and retreat, defeated, sometimes almost without a fight.
Y.- Currently, what is the day-to-day life of an athlete like you?
R.F.- Aerobic training in the morning, with a bike especially. Gym in the afternoon, to especially strengthen some areas, stretching and recovery. On the other hand, I have a knee injury that prevents me from running and I have to improve it for my next expedition, but it doesn't worry me much, because it seems that after several months of working on it, it is improving.
Y.- In 2009 you underwent surgery for breast cancer. Even so, you decided to try to reach Broad Peak, 8,046m. Has it been the most difficult challenge of your life?
R.F.- It has been a CHALLENGE in capital letters, the important thing was not only the summit, it was to test myself, to check if my mental strength was still intact and if my physical strength, evidently diminished, could be even at the height of the circumstances. It was a unique experience, the doctors calculated the right moment to take a two-month break in my treatment and then resume it at my
