Denis Urubko surprises the audience attending the presentation of his latest book, The Elegance of Efficiency. Rescues in the death zone (Desnivel) in Reus, showing his skills as a dancer in a video that captures his performance in a contest for celebrities on Polish television. In addition to having crowned the 14 eight thousand without the aid of artificial oxygen, to open five new routes on peaks of more than 8,000 meters in Alpine style, to climb the Makalu and the G-II in winter, among other feats, Urubko (Nevinnomyssk, Russia, 1973) claims his artistic vein. In Vladivostok he studied theater and journalism, before moving to Almaty to join the Kazakh army. The military career, which combined with his raids in the Himalayas, lasted for 18 years.
His book goes from rescues to the death zone. Do you feel more satisfaction when you complete the rescue of a mountaineer than when you crown a peak?
No. Helping another person is a humanitarian action, it’s normal, I feel I’ve done the right thing, the right thing to do. But reaching the top of an eight-thousand is a very difficult, personal challenge, and for me it also has an artistic side.
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 someone who gives it. I know how important it is not to fall into mistakes so as not to put other mountaineers in dangerous situations.
Are the people who have been rescued grateful?
Not always. Some assume it’s 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, as it wastes time, physically it is a great effort, I need to recover and I end up spending more money.
And besides, the rescuer puts himself in danger.
Some people assume that the most important thing is their life, not that of others, it is selfishness. Many people do not like to say that they have rescued her, they do not want to show that they have had problems on the mountain, they avoid showing weakness because this means that maybe next time they will not have the support of sponsors.
The mountain does not escape the lie.
Yes, in the mountains and in all walks of life you find people who do not tell the truth for different reasons, for ego, for money, for their own satisfaction… With Tenzing and Hillary, the debate about who had reached the summit first (Everest 1953). And Nims (Nirmal Purja), who said he did the Dhaulagiri without bottled oxygen, but others saw him with oxygen and then said, “Ah yes.”
Let’s go back to the book. How many rescues have you collected?
About twenty, the best known are those of Iñaki Ochoa de Olza in the Annapurna; Elisabeth Revol, in the Nanga Parbat; Jean-Christophe Lafaille, at Broad Peak… But in the epilogue I talk about others not so significant, about 25 in total.
What does he feel when he arrives and the person is already dead?
After watching the film Pura Vida about the rescue of Iñaki, people came up to me and congratulated me for the effort, but I was sad, the operation was not a success, we could not save my friend. But the public and the media highlighted the effort we put in as a team, mountaineers who didn’t even know each other united to help Iñaki, that was very important. But we did not rescue Iñaki alive.
They tried.
An attempt is not a reason for you to be praised, the important thing is the success. We tried, yes… but what counts are the results. No honor should be given to those who rescue, it is normal, no one should hang medals for this.
In 2020, he announced that he was quitting mountaineering. Why is it back?
I thought I would dedicate myself to my family, my children, have a normal life, a job, but I realized that no one wanted to live with me. So, two years later, I thought it was better to return to the mountains, with my partner, María José Cardell, from Granada. She asked me to help her open a new route in alpine style on an 8,000 meter peak and I said yes, because no woman has ever done it. In 2022 I prepared, completed three summits, Broad Peak, G-II and K2 (in eleven days, without oxygen). This summer we are going to the G-I, when we are at the base camp we will decide where to climb.
And would you return to K2 in winter?
It’s not a question of whether I want to or not, it’s just that I can’t, it costs too much money and it’s necessary to have a good team, good teammates, and that’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 and I would overcome the tie I have with Juanito Oiarzabal of 26. My body is ready, now that I am back I don’t want to stop. I have asked China for permission to climb Everest alone by an unpublished route in the spring of 2024. Mountaineering is art, I studied to be a theater and film actor, I participated in several plays and, on the mountain , I want to explore new things. I have dreamed several times of tracing different routes on Everest, I tried in 2013 on the south face, through Nepal, with Alexey Bolotov, but he died and I have bad memories. In addition, we must remember the painful case of the Sherpas with Ueli Steck (in 2013 the Swiss and two other mountaineers were attacked). I too have had bad experiences in Nepal.
Nepal is not part of your plans?
I don’t want to go back. It’s all business and money, money… It’s all too commercial. I prefer to go on the north face, through Tibet.
