VIDEO: Croatian Girls To Campaign Mt. Everest

I`ve been preparing for Mount Everest all my life. We have been training hard for two years, Ena Vrbek said.

In just a few days, eleven courageous and persistent Croatian women will try to conquer the highest mountain top in the world, Mount Everest. Under unimaginable and severe conditions, where the temperature drops 40 below zero, the girls will try to realise several goals, the most important being that as many as possible reach the “roof top of the world”. In addition, they will try to break the record of world female alpinism in continuous climbing and reach the top without sleeping in camps, which means they will set out from the base camp and not rest until the top, without oxygen if possible.

Ena Vrbek, a 23-year-old who has been mountain climbing since 2004, told us that emotions in such expeditions are much more expressed than in other, normal situations.

One of the missions for the preparations is to learn about Mount Everest, to at least read some descriptions of the people who climbed it, to get an idea of what it s like. In a way, I can envision the situation with lack of oxygen, because I scuba dive. However, you get a precise picture once you`re up there.

Mountain climber Sanja Djurin

- You miss things you usually take for granted. In the end, excitement overwhelms you and the world seems different when you`re up there – Ena Vrbek told us, who is otherwise a student at the Faculty of Kinesiology.

She was a member of the mountain climbing team which conquered the 8,201-metre high Himalayan peak Cho Oyu.

- I`ve been preparing for Mount Everest all my life, I have always wanted to go there. We have been training hard for two years. We have been preparing for Cho Oyu for a year, and when we returned, preparations for Mount Everest began – Ena said.

The expedition lasts 72 days, while they will be staying on the mountain for 50 days. It takes 7 days to approach the Mount Everest. To reach the top, the girls have to acclimatise.

They will miss their families and rocks

Base camp is first set up on the mountain where life conditions for 50 days are secured. Afterwards, the first camp is set up and the process of acclimatisation takes place as they are half way through from that camp and by returning to the base.

- After that, we will go to the first camp and return to the base, then back to the camp, where we will spend the night and get back down. The same procedure goes for other camps, but we will only sleep in the fourth camp one day before climbing to the top – Ena explains, adding that she would not be missing comfort, but her loved ones: her family and boyfriend.

When the weather is nice and the girls train outside, mostly on Mount Sljeme, and when they are distracted by rain, snow or the cold, they practice indoors on artificial rocks.

- We try to go to the gym at least twice a week and it would be ideal to go three times and have at least 2 and a half hour trainings. At first, we spend half an hour warming up, and then climb the artificial rock – 36-year-old Suncica Hrascanec told us, a graphic designer.

She fell in love with mountain climbing in 1992 when a friend took her to Mount Sljeme.

- As soon as I touched that rock I thought, this is it, this is my sport. The rock is my first and essential love – Suncica said, adding that she will miss rocks most on Mount Everest, because it is mostly covered in snow and ice.

Mountain climbing takes a lot of sacrifice

General good shape requires working out outside, while climbing power requires training on artificial rocks, 34-year-old Sanja Djurin explained, otherwise a social anthropologist. She claims that before departing for such a demanding expedition, one should be well-informed.

Mountain climbing and being in good shape requires a lot of sacrifices, as well as love for what they do.

- It takes a lot of discipline, you don`t feel like it a million times, because it is cold, or it`s raining or because everyone is going somewhere for the weekend, and you have to train. But, we managed to do it all, to work out and have fun, it`s not as if we had army training, at least I didn`t – Sanja described, who won`t miss anything that much.

She added that it is not good to think about what you miss, but to be present with your thoughts and body.

The mountain climbers are full of enthusiasm, prepared for the strenuous expedition and unfortunately, they still have financial problems. Their expenses include airline fees, the agency, permits and equipment, but the girls are optimistic and hope to solve this before Tuesday, when they will set out for the unforgettable adventure.

Watch the attached video clip: Croatian Girls To Campaign Mount Everest (note that the interview is in Croatian).