“Flor Cuenca is the first Peruvian woman to have summitted eleven mountains above 8000 metres without artificial oxygen. The daughter of a farmer couple, she tells Nidhi Jamwal that it is self-belief and determination that takes her to the top every single time.”
Nidhi Jamwal*
LUKLA (Nepal): Mountaineer Flor Cuenca remembers one of her earliest dreams. “I must have been five or six years old when I told my sister that I wanted to climb a hill and touch the sky,” she said.
The two sisters did run up a hill in their village Chuspin in Peru, South America, but could not touch the sky. So they looked for another hill, hoping that from the summit of that one Cuenca would be able to touch the sky.
“It’s been four decades since and I am still climbing mountains in the hope of touching the sky,” the Peruvian climber smiled. She was seated in a small wooden restaurant in Lukla, a small town in northeastern Nepal, popularly known as the Gateway to Everest, the world’s tallest peak at 8868.86 metres above mean sea level (AMSL).
Cuenca is no ordinary climber. Her parents are farmers and she is the first Peruvian woman to have summitted eleven mountains above 8000 metres without the use of artificial oxygen. Cuenca is also the first person of Peruvian nationality to have climbed three of the 14 highest mountains in the world: Gasherbrum I (8068 m), K2 (8611 m), and Kanchenjunga (8586 m).
I met Cuenca on May 12, last month, at a lodge in Lukla, where climbers gather on their way to and on their way back from their mountaineering expeditions. She had just summitted Makalu (8,485 metres), the fifth-highest mountain on Earth, located on the China-Nepal border, and was resting a couple of days, “taking in a lot of oxygen”, before making her way to the Everest Base Camp (commonly known as EBC) situated at an elevation of 5364 metres.
I had just returned from EBC after a gruelling 11-day trek (130 kilometres round trip), as part of the Himalayan Climate Boot Camp organised by Nepal Forum of Science Journalists. I was bone tired, my knees hurt, I was still feeling breathless.
But am I glad I had that amazing chance to speak to Cuenca. Just listening to the 46-year-old mountaineer speak made me realise what a human could achieve with discipline, hardwork and self-belief. I felt miraculously re-energised after my conversation with her!
Cuenca has spent 25 years travelling around the world climbing peaks in South America, the Alps in Europe, and the Himalayas. When I asked her what she thought was more important – physical strength or mental strength – to summit the peaks, she said, “It is 70:30. Seventy percent mental strength and 30 percent physical.”
Why not 50:50, I asked.
“There are so many times our body feels that it has had enough and it cannot carry out a task. Maybe there is a huge rock in the way, or several feet high snow. But, if you make up your mind to do the task at hand, you will be surprised with your success.”
Looking back it all makes sense. There were so many instances during the EBC trek, I wanted to give up. I had painful blisters on my feet, my knees and calves were hurting and I had skin burns on my exposed hands. I couldn’t eat, and the nights in sub-zero temperatures were both breathless and sleepless.
But, every morning was a promise to myself to complete that day’s task and reach the destination. And I did.
Cuenca dismissed common notions about women being physically weaker than men, and how their menstruation comes in the way of arduous physical tasks and so on.
“It makes me special. Periods are part of our life and it is normal. Of course, when I have periods, I feel sick and weak. But immediately after that, I get extra power which I use for mountaineering,” she said.
Cuenca has set an example for girls and women not just in Peru, but in the entire South America.
“In my family, I am the only one who climbs mountains and now my younger brother is also into mountaineering. In Peru, there weren’t women who climbed mountains but now they are starting to. I get messages from women across South America when they have climbed a peak and say they are inspired to continue the journey,” said Cuenca who is the third child out of 14 children in her family of farmers.
Cuenca said her parents were supportive of her dreams all through.
“My parents let me do whatever I wanted to. They never told me ‘No’. They knew I was born for something special. We all have our hidden talent,” she said.
“As a child, I loved spending time with Nature, climbing rocks, and reaching the top of a snowy mountain to see what the world looks like from the top. My parents are farmers and they don’t understand what it is to climb a mountain. I would reach the top, eat a sandwich, and come down from the mountain,” she laughed.
The only thing her parents warned her was about ensuring she picked the right man in her life, she grinned.
I couldn’t resist asking her one last question as we prepared to go our ways. “Do you have any message for the girls and young women in the world?”
Her response was simple. “I would tell them that there are many things to discover in our life. Don’t give up easily. Just wait, the next day will be better. It doesn’t matter what you want to do, as we can do everything; the limit is in our heads. The most important thing is to trust ourselves. If we believe in ourselves, everyone else will do so too.”
*Nidhi Jamwal is a Mumbai-based journalist who reports on environment, climate, and rural issues. Her handle on X is @JamwalNidhi
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