Sharon Wood on the summit of Everest.
"Rising" was the mantra that Sharon Wood repeated the most times during the ascent of Everest in May 1986 . She did it through one of the most complicated routes, at more than 6,000 meters high and without the help of a Sherpa.** In fact, that route has not been repeated since then.**
‘Rising: Becoming the First North American Woman on Everest ’, Published in October 2019, tells precisely this story, a memoir about the most exciting adventure of her life and the one that crowned her as the first American woman to step on the summit of Everest. The book was awarded last March at the Banff Mountain Festival.
But, **why has it taken so long to get her story out?** “I decided to tell the story after all this time because Everest never left me. Not a day has gone by without someone asking me about something related to him. I was encouraged after seeing how it has been transformed from a mountain for climbers to a prize for trophy hunters”, he tells Traveler.es after seeing the images of the traffic jam on the mountain a year ago.
“The conga on Everest and the lack of respect for others in the fight for the trophy has desecrated what was once a universal icon of humanity's achievements . I think what is happening on Everest is a disturbing expression of the growing need for status over strength and quality of character."
'Rising', the story of Sharon Wood.
“Believe and start” It would be the mantra that is repeated and was repeated back then when something scares him. “Like many people I sometimes lacked confidence. She believed that she needed all the answers before she started. That is why, repeating this mantra, I reminded myself that I had ten years of experience and practice climbing behind me”, explains the mountaineer.
The story focuses on the period of ascent to the mountain in May 1986 (when she was 29 years old) with the group of Canadian climbers and mountaineers, all men, with whom she worked as a guide and had previously trained. The group was made up of 12 professional mountaineers, plus a cook and a doctor, and curiously, at the same base there was another of American origin where there was also a single woman.
** Annie Whitehouse ** was the mountaineer with whom she was competing for the position of being the first American woman to climb Everest. And unfortunately, also at that time, the new partner of her ex. The media did not take long to echo and that is how a media rivalry began that was far from the reality experienced by both.
“It was humiliating. I felt my privacy was invaded. Both Annie and I were much more upset with the media than with each other. In fact, since we met we have felt mutual admiration”, she emphasizes to Traveler.es.
West Ridge.
THE OTHER SIDE OF EVEREST
“I decided to climb Everest because I wanted to go with my friends and colleagues, the men with whom I had grown up, trained and worked as a professional mountain guide. They had good style and that attracted me. When I speak of "good style" I mean that they used to climb mountains with fewer resources, by more difficult routes and where often the strategy and skill of the climbers, rather than resources, determined success . It was a privilege to climb with such a selfless, talented and strong team. There was only one other woman with me, Jane Fearing, who was our cook and base camp manager. She made my experience so much better through her friendship and support."
Sharon tells us that there are probably many people who do not know that Everest can be climbed in 20 different ways. In their case they took the promotion for West Ridge.
“99.9% of people go up one of two "regular routes", which are the ones of least resistance: Southwest Ridge and Northeast Ridge . Today both routes are groomed each climbing season by Sherpas who are hired to set up and maintain the ropes from the bottom up."
However, the team opted for West Ridge, one of the most difficult that already had 15 climb attempts and eight deaths.
Sharon pregnant months later.
For 70 days they achieved a feat that has not been repeated since then: climb west ridge and do it without sherpa . “We set our own ropes and carried our own loads. In the book I provide a rarely experienced perspective that differs significantly from those found in other Everest books," Sharon told Traveler.es.
'Rising' is a book of adventure, but also of personal reflections and learning. “The hardest challenge of climbing the mountain was staying strong psychologically. Still believing after 70 days”.
North Face before the storm.