Cho Oyu, First 8000er by Spanish Women. Society in any country is composed of men and women and I believe we have equal responsibilities. In my country, Spain, few women participate in high-altitude climbing; I felt I should do something about it. I put together a small group of women with Himalayan experience. Unfortunately, we lacked sponsorship and only Mónica Verge and I could get sufficient funds. With Ang Phuri Sherpa we left Kathmandu on August 18 by bus for Kodari. The following morning we drove to Khassa on the Tibetan border. On August 20, we arrived at Tingry and on the 21st were at the Chinese Base Camp at 4300 meters. At Tingry we contracted for yaks to take us the three-day walk to our Base Camp at 5400 meters. We wanted to get to the end of the lateral moraine on the Gyabrag Glacier, but the yak men refused to go beyond 5400 meters, where the wind funneled down from the Nangpa La. Monica and I installed Advance Base at 5900 meters on August 30 and Camp I at 6600 meters just below the icefall on September 5. Despite unstable weather, on the 13th we placed Camp II at 7200 meters to the right of the Tichy route. I felt the weather and the snow too unstable and so we returned to Camp I to wait. On September 15, a huge avalanche caught an Italian woman and a Sherpa who were attempting the summit; both survived. The avalanche started at 8000 meters and ran past our tent at Camp II, damaging the tent somewhat. On August 18, we climbed to the rock band at 7700 meters and placed two very light tents under a prominent rock. On August 19, Mónica, Ang Phuri and I left camp at five A.M. and were on the summit at 10:45. On the way back to camp, we met the two Swiss, who reached the summit that same day after us.

Magda Nos King, Expedició Femenina, Spain