Denis Urubko surprises the public that attends the presentation of his latest book, The Elegance of Efficiency. Rescues in the death zone (Unevenness), in Reus, by showing his skills as a dancer in a video that includes his performance in a contest for celebrities on Polish television. In addition to having crowned the 14 eight-thousanders without the help of artificial oxygen, opening five new routes on peaks over 8,000 meters in alpine style, climbing Makalu and G-II in winter, among other feats, Urubko (Nevinnomyssk, Russia, 1973) vindicates his artistic vein. In Vladivostok, he studied theater and journalism, before settling in Almaty to enlist in the Kazakh army. His military career, which he combined with his forays into the Himalayas, lasted 18 years.
His book is about rescues in the death zone. Do you feel more satisfaction when completing the rescue of a mountaineer than when crowning a peak?
No. Helping another person is a humanitarian action, it is normal, I feel that I have done the right thing, which is what it is. But getting to the top of an eight-thousander is something very difficult, it’s something artistic, of self-realization.
And have you ever needed to be rescued?
Yes, on two occasions. In my early days, in the Tian Shan Mountains, I made some mistakes. That’s why I can see the situation from both sides, that of someone who needs help and that of the one who provides it. I know how important it is not to make mistakes so as not to put others in dangerous situations.
Are the people who have been rescued grateful?
Not always. Some assume that it is normal for you to help them. I don’t expect them to thank me, I do it because it’s important to me, I consider it my responsibility and that it’s necessary to do it. But it is not a pleasure because time is wasted, physically it is a great effort, I need to recover and I end up spending more money.
And also the rescuer puts himself in danger.
Certain people assume that the most important thing is their life, not that of others, it is selfish. Many people do not like to say that they have been rescued, they do not want to show that they have had problems in the mountains, they avoid showing weakness because that means that perhaps next time they will not have the support of sponsors.
The mountain does not escape lies.
Yes, in the mountains and in all walks of life you find people who do not tell the truth for many reasons, for ego, for money, for their own satisfaction… Already with Tenzing and Hillary the debate arose as to who had arrived first. the summit (Everest 1953). And Nims (Nirmal Purja), who said that he made the Dhaulagiri without bottled oxygen, but others saw it with oxygen and then he said, “Oh yeah”.
Let’s go back to the book. How many ransoms have you collected?
About twenty, the best known are those of Iñaki Ochoa de Olza in the Annapurna; Elisabeth Revol, at Nanga Parbat; Jean-Christophe Lafaille, at Broad Peak… But in the epilogue I mention others that are not so significant, a total of about 25.
What do you feel when you arrive and the person has already died?
After seeing the movie Pura Vida about Iñaki’s rescue, people would come up to me and congratulate me on the effort, but I was sad, the operation was not a success, we couldn’t save my friend. But the public and the media highlighted the effort we put in as a team, climbers who didn’t even know each other came together to help Iñaki, this is an achievement. But we didn’t rescue Iñaki alive.
They tried.
An attempt is not a reason to be exalted, the important thing is success. We tried, yes…, but the important thing is the results. You don’t have to honor those who rescue, it’s normal, no one should hang medals for it.
In 2020, he announced that he was quitting mountaineering. Why has he come back?
I thought of dedicating myself to the family, my children, having a normal life, a job, but I realized that nobody wanted to live with me. So, two years later, I thought it was better to go back to the mountains, with my partner, María José Cardell, from Granada. She asked me to help her open a new alpine-style route on an 8,000-meter peak and I said yes, because no woman has ever done it. In 2022 I prepared myself, I completed three summits, the Broad Peak, the G-II and the K2 (in eleven days, without oxygen). This summer we are going to the G-I, when we are at base camp María José and I will decide which way to go up.
And would I go back to K2 in winter?
It’s not a question of whether I want to or not, it’s that I can’t, it costs too much money and it’s necessary to have a very good team, good teammates, it’s very difficult right now. My main challenge is the new route in an 8,000, if I succeed I will have climbed 27 eight thousand without bottled oxygen, surpassing the tie I have with Juanito Oiarzabal of 26. My body is ready, now that I’m back I don’t want to stop. I have asked China for permission to climb Everest alone on an unprecedented itinerary in the spring of 2024. Mountaineering is art, I studied to be a theater and film actor, I participated in several plays and, in the mountains, I want to explore new things . I have dreamed several times of tracing different routes on Everest, I tried it in 2013 on the south face, in Nepal, with Alexey Bolotov, but he died and I have very bad memories. In addition, there is the sorry case of Ueli Steck with the Sherpas (the Swiss and two other climbers were attacked). In Nepal I have also had bad experiences.
Nepal is not in your plans?
I do not want to get back. Everything is business and money, money… Everything is too commercial. I prefer to go to the north face.
