Alex Txikon, short biography of an explorer

We love a good story! Especially if they are adventurous athletes who have known how to leave all their fears behind in order to reach the highest and most challenging peaks on our entire planet.

And it is there where we find Alex Txikon, considered one of the best Himalayan climbers in Spain and the world, as well as one of the most prepared explorers in his category, having opened endless new routes in some of the most important mountains on earth.

In recent years, we have seen him in his victorious appearances on the television program Al filo de lo Imposible on TVE and the project of the 14 eight-thousanders of the Spanish Himalayan climber, Edurne Pasaban, of which he has crowned successfully all to date.

One of his greatest successes was seen in 2016, when Alex Txikon became the first mountaineer in history to summit Nanga Parbat in winter. One of the most admirable feats of the last decades! Especially because of the challenge posed by the low temperatures in the area in that season.

If you want to know a little more about Alex Txikon, keep reading and join us on the journey through the life of this great Spanish mountaineer!

HER EARLY YEARS

Born in Lemona (Basque Country) in 1981, Alex Txikón grew up as the youngest of a large family of 13 siblings. It was precisely they who had the opportunity to introduce him to the world of mountaineering at a very young age. Already at the age of 3 years he would reach the summit of Monte Gorbea, in Euskadi.

As the mountaineer explains, he discovered his passion for the mountains “since he was a child. You could play Basque pelota and soccer in my town, but there were outings with public schools and the mountaineering club. I started dating. and from there to the person I am right now, forged by this desire to discover the world”, says Txikon in a recent interview.

His enthusiasm for mountaineering turned into a passion and a career to remember for years and years. And it is that with only 21 years he trodden the top of the Broad Peak in the Pakistani Karakorum, of about 8.047m.

“Since I was a teenager, I fell in love with the mountains, with nature, with each and every one of those few redoubts where human beings have not yet trodden”, affirms the Himalayan.

PASSION FOR LIFE AND MOUNTAINEERING

Nowadays, Alex Txikon can proudly say that he already has a repertoire of more than 30 expeditions including the 14 eight-thousanders. His love for the mountains, for exploration and adventure makes him one of the most inspiring and motivational Himalayans, because his passion comes from deep within, and it has become a philosophy of life for him.

And it is that, according to Txikon himself: “In the life of a human being, the average life span fluctuates in something less than about 33.000 days. If it were up to me, I would try to spend as much of my trip as possible in the mountains! And I come to that inevitable but real and pragmatic conclusion: life is short, very short. And it is only through generosity that we take away its end, that we make it eternal. If we stop to think for a moment, there are many things that are important. But essential, only two: life and time…”

Alex Txikon is especially recognized for being the only mountaineer to lead winter teams to the Himalayas annually for 10 years, and also for his achievement in 2016, years in which he achieved his first winter summit in the Nanga Parbat together with the climbers Simone Moro (Italy) and Ali Sadpara (Pakistan), who in their hardest moments would overcome temperatures of -55º C. Since then, he has participated in winter expeditions to Everest (2017 and 2018) as well as K2 (2019).

A VERY WELL PREPARED HIMALAYANIST

If there is something that really defines Alex Txikon it is his drive and his preparation when he climbs mountains, because he fully understands the risks that this sport entails. For this reason, she always climbs very well prepared, carrying her most basic elements: from a lighter, an extra battery and a knife in one of her chest pockets, to the most essential medications in the other, for example, dexamethasone.

“It is not lacking in our expeditions. In a summit attack, in the key part of an ascent of an expedition at very high altitudes, there is no lack ”, Alex explains in a recent interview in relation to the so-called “altitude sickness”.

Despite the fact that he has witnessed difficult moments due to the high altitude conditions with his expedition companions, Alex Txikon has always known how to react on time and prepare to help. This is something key to mountaineering, that preparation, that crisis management if a partner needs him, or if he needed it himself, and Alex has known how to give his all in action, always as prepared as possible at the heights. so high

Her passion for the mountains is also accompanied by a desire to excel as a good mountaineer. He has to be afraid, but he marvels at getting ahead and controlling it. According to Txikon himself, "the best friend of fear must be prudence."

ALEX TXIKON'S MILESTONES OVER THE YEARS

• 2003
• Broad Peak (8.047m) – SUMMIT
• 2004
• Makalu (8.463m) - SUMMIT
• K2 (8.611m) Reaches 7400m
• Cho Oyu (8.201m) - SUMMIT
• 2005
• Makalu (8.463m)
• Lenin Peak (7.134m) - SUMMIT
• 2006
• Shisha Pangma (8.027m) - SUMMIT
• Antarctica Expedition: Mount Scott (880m). SUMMIT
• Shackelton (1.465m). New route. SUMMIT
• Wandell (2.397m). Virgin Peak. SUMMIT
• 2007
• Shisha Pangma (8.027m) – SUMMIT. British Route (SW face). Alpine style
• 2008
• Dhaulagiri (8.167m) - SUMMIT
• Manaslu (8.163m) SUMMIT
• 2009
• Kangchenjunga (8.586m) Reaches 8450m
• Shisha Pangma (8.027m) SUMMIT
• 2010
• Annapurna (8.091m) SUMMIT
• Shisha Pangma (8.027m) SUMMIT

• 2011
• Gasherbrum I (8.080m) Winter expedition. Get to 7.000 m.
• Gasherbrum II (8.035m) SUMMIT
• K2 (8.611M) Reaches 7.900 m.
• 2012
• Gasherbrum I (8.080m) Winter expedition on a new route.
• Expedition to Greenland (climbing and BASE jumping). Ulamertorsuaq Peak (1.880m). Opening of a new way (D. His p 1100m)- SUMMIT
• 2013
• Laila Peak (6.096m) SUMMIT First winter
• Nuptse (7.861m) 20 m from the summit
• Lhotse (8.516m) SUMMIT
• K2 (8.611M) Reaches 7.100m
• 2014
• Kangchenjunga (8.586m) Reaches 8.500 m.
• No Name Tower (6.251m) - SUMMIT. Via ‘Ethernal Flame’: 7b+, A2, M5 1100m. In 36 hours
• 2015
• Nanga Parbat (8.125m) Winter expedition. Get to 7.850 m.
• Thalay Sagar (6.904m) New route without summit in the Northwest pillar
• 2016
• Nanga Parbat (8.125m) - SUMMIT First winter expedition
• 2017
• Everest (8.850m) Reach 7.900m. Winter Expedition
• 2018
• K2 (8.611 m) Reaches 7.050m - Winter Expedition
• New attempt to Everest without oxygen -Winter expedition. However, they are forced to leave due to extreme cold and bad weather.
• 2019
• K2 (8.611 m) – Winter expedition on the slopes of Karakorum using igloos.

In addition to being a mountaineer, he is a fan of boxing, Basque pelota, rowing, cycling and basketball. He has practiced BASE jumping, having obtained in 2013 the Spanish BASE Jumping record after jumping from 3.200 meters from Pico Veleta, in Granada together with Patrick Gisasola and Darío Barrio.

With 14 eight-thousanders and more than 30 expeditions... Alex Txikon hopes very soon to become the first person to conquer Everest without oxygen in winter, when the weather conditions and the amount of snow required allow it.

But more recently he has dedicated himself to giving talks, calls and visits to residences to bring mountaineering a little closer to our elders. In addition, he is concentrating efforts on his latest projects, documentary films and a book about his 2016 winter campaign at Nanga Parbat.