The marine father and the son, a man of land?

The father was Biscayan and internal, from Galdakao. I had learned to be a sailor. As a young man he moved to Pasaia and began working there in the great cod company Pisbe. The company had eight boats and one of them, the Galerna, was the one who spent half of his life. He worked in cod fishing in Newfoundland. And she married a beautiful girl from Pasaia, Angelita Cámara, our mother, who still lives. Natural from Zarautz, she's 97 years old.

Have you been at sea?

Yes, but on sailing boats. I have some pirate friends and I've made such nice trips with them. It was the longest from Barcelona to the west coast of Greenland, to the fjord Umanaq. It was a seven-month cruise.

Did the mountaineering worm feel from a young age?

My father came from the center of Euskal Herria and went to the sea, I was born on the coast and went to the mountain. Who knows why we do the things we do. Life grabbed me by the hand and took me to the mountains. Pasaia is a very special town, like a fjord. There are small mountains, there is sea… It is a place to dream. I have made a lot of dreams with Newfoundland, with the sea… Once in my father’s boat they brought one seal and another bear. I experienced a very dreamy youth and I have always blamed my people in a tender way. Pasai Donibane has always been in my heart and remains in the middle of my life. In my imaginary, it's always the beginning and the end of all travel. I always make circular trips. And all the places I've lived, Donostia, Hondarribia, Gaintza, Oñati… All those places I include in Pasai Donibane.

Who did you start going to the mountain with?

Most of the time alone. I liked being there. I took a climbing course and frequented the rocks surrounding the sea light, especially when it was a bad time ago and the waves collided with the stone. I like to see the waves break. It's a very aesthetic environment. Then I started going to the Pyrenees and then to the Alps, to the Himalayas…

And today, who do you feel comfortable with on the mountain?

Walking alone is nice, you feel free and lonely, and the mountain is a good place to enjoy loneliness. I also like in the group, I'm often working on those things, and sharing the mountain is as beautiful as sharing bread, cheese and wine. In this last stage I like to walk with children on the mountain. And it's even nicer to be on the mountain with your partner, not only and in nature with whom you love.

Many mountaineers in the Basque Country. Is there an extraordinary hobby here?

I guess so. Although the Basque Country is so small, here we have three mountaineers who have done all eight thousand. And that doesn't happen in many places. As far as I am aware, there are still no mountaineers in France who have done all eight thousand, for example. Why will it be? No doubt that mountaineering is not just sport. There are things that are more beautiful than just a sport. Mountaineering and travel are closely related. You can't understand the mountain without a trip. I think that our society was once very closely linked to nature. The big city has not been here until recently and our cities are full of baserritars. Maybe because we miss nature, we go back to the mountain, which for thousands of years has been our environment.

What do you hear on the mountain with your ears open?

Rumors, stories, intentions, desires, weaknesses, fears, form… You’re small and you feel small, but big, because nature gives you a lot. You have to make your petty big and get the best out of you to stay there.

Take the best out of nature and the rest as well?

Yes. The best of you and the worst of you also come out. The mountain doesn't do you better, but it reveals what you are, how you are inside.

Is there a lot of competition between high-mountain climbers?

Yes, both before and now. But that's nothing healthy. If mountaineering competes in unwritten norms, mountaineers have it with the mountain, with nature. More than rivalry, I would say relationship. Lete said a long time ago: “Connect with nature and get in touch.” Particularly in the case of major expeditions, there has been a great change in recent years. Our Western society is now richer, European, American, Australian... and we move more easily. Societal trends have also changed. What are we tourists? Yes. But that also has its advantages, because with that people here have found work. There's a lot of discussion, for example, because the sherpas are doing business at Everest. They say it with contempt. I do not agree. They are working and doing hard work, and as a result their children have the opportunity to learn and their homes are now better. In Everest, in Kilimanjaro, in the Andes, mountain tourism has been a great development for people. Many times the Westerners have the habit of seeing with our eyes and it seems that the center of the world is here, and it is not. For a man who lives in the Himalayas, the center of the world is there. There are many centers in the world. What we should do is we should all be cleaner, like garbage. Now it's going better, but there's a lot to do.

Is money the passport that serves to go anywhere?

It does not have to be like this: the will to leave is better.

And in money, how much does it cost to make one of these great trips?

50,000 euros to Everest. Al Kilimanjaro, about 4,000.

In 1974 you made the first Basque expedition “Tximist” to Himalaya, Everest.

Thus began the modern era in the mediocrity of the Basque Country. In 1969, a group moved to the Peruvian Andes. After making five mountains that no one had ever stepped on, this first expedition was prepared to the Himalayas, sponsored by the company Cegasa. Juan Zelaia, owner of this company, has been a very special person in the Basque mountaineering and soon saw that the project could be very interesting. We were twelve people and about thirty sherpas from Nepal. We didn't get to the top, but we acquired a lot of experience for future expeditions.

Since he founded Montes and Villages in 1976, he has continued as director.

I would say I'm an ox more than a director. Soon after we were born we began to travel in Peru, Pyrenees, Nepal… We organized and directed all the activities that are carried out in the mountain: excursions, ascents, mountain skiing, rock climbing, tender routes, expeditions from 6,000 to 7,000… Of all. We started four. MARTIN Zabaleta, Xabier Erro, Julio Villar and I. Life has led the other three in other ways and I am the only one to follow. Today we are seven people and now we have young and wonderful people, very well prepared and lover of the trade of mountain guides: Igor Lasa, Julen Reketa, Garo Azkue, Leire Urretxo, Aitor Rufo and Ibon Ginea “Mutiko”.

The most beautiful corner of every corner?

The nicest thing I don't know, but Euskal Herria is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful in the world. The most beautiful mountain is Balerdi, which I see out the window of my house. I have it at hand and it's also very beautiful. But in all places there are nice views: the loneliness in the desert and the lights and colors that arise in the sunset, that piece of forest that is in the smallest place in autumn… The whole planet is beautiful.

And three specific places that have been stuck inside?

I will go down the mountain and mention three cities to you: Isfahan in Iran, Gao Malin, and Copiapo in Chile. The three are beautiful, situated in a beautiful geography and with a peculiar interior geography of their own. Its innocent inhabitants are walking peacefully through its streets.

What trips do you want to make?

I've always dreamed of making a long and long journey through Euskal Herria, town to town, mountain to mountain, people to people, language, season to season.

Inside the time machine, what time would you jump to?

Shackleton and Geoffrey Winthrop in Young's time. 1876-1958 I would like to be a member of Shackleton's Endurance boat and Young's Lace Mate on the northern shore, 4,160 meters from Breithorn. In 1920, the Pasai Donibane San Juan trainee awarded the Concha Flag, with the Matxet pattern. It was a great time. However, I am at ease here and now. There are better times for Euskal Herria, freer, and for that I would like to put my point.

Surrounded by cold and loneliness, what do you have in your head?

Don't let the cold get too close to my body. To look loneliness in the eyes with complicity.

What relationship do you have with death?

We look at each other's eyes, at each other's eyes.

After you turn 70, do you feel like you're walking down the side?

All my life I've been walking upstairs, downhill, I'm used to it.

What would you change in your life?

There is nothing to do anymore, I've lived what I've lived. And what a job to start changing now!

And in our Basque Country?

Poor adherence of the Basque people to the Basque country. Bridge the gap between the Basque Abertzales, close it, and we all come together. Bringing the North and South of Euskal Herria together on the long and difficult road to independence, because it is essential, we all have something to learn from others. The North needs the South, the South needs the North.

What is your destiny, your summit, your goal in life?

There are many summits on the planet that I would like to know, taste its wind, know its peoples. Outside the mountain, do something for our people and help my little sugar sweeten life.

I've always had a tendency to look forward. The only pity I have is that I have little time to continue riding on the mountain. The lived thing is there and it's beautiful. The high-mountain guide has a big difference: I present the summits to the people who come with me to the mountain, to everyone who sticks to my rope. Isn't this a wonderful job? Give mountain peaks, both at work and with friends. Give emotions, emotions to people, to nature, to people.