Chilean alpinist to scale Dhaulagiri, Cho Oyu in autumn climbing season

Kathmandu, September 4

A 52-year-old alpinist from Chile today said he planned to climb two mountains above 8,000 metres in a single season this autumn.

Talking to mediapersons here, Hernan Leal, who became the first South American to successfully climb Mt Everest and Mt Lhotse in a single season last spring, said he would attempt to climb Mt Cho Oyu (8,201 m) and Mt Dhaulagiri (8,167m) this season.

Before leaving for Mt Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain in the world, Leal said, “I want to be the first Chilean to complete the seven highest peaks in the world.” The climber said that he would first attempt to climb Mt Cho Oyu and return to Mt Dhaulagiri along with a Spanish team.

Leal, who is also a motivational speaker, said he was inspired by the scenic view of Mt Dhaulagiri when he first trekked to the Annapurna region in 2011. “Since then, I have climbed a number of peaks including Mt Everest and Mt Lhotse,” he added.

After beginning his climbing career in 2013, Leal said he climbed Mt Everest in 2017 from the Tibetan side and he again returned to the world’s highest peak in the last spring from the Nepal side. “The Everest north was one of the toughest climbs as we received a very short window on May 20,” he recounted.

He has already climbed the highest peaks in all seven continents becoming one of seven Chileans to achieve that feat,” the climber said, adding that he wanted to complete the real seven summits by climbing the seven highest peaks in the world in a couple of years.

An engineer by profession, Leal has founded a company called FASTCO Collections. “I want to inspire youths, especially schoolchildren, to travel around their native land, along the mountain areas closest to them,” Leal added.

After climbing Mt Cho Oyu and Mt Dhaulagiri this season, he will attempt to scale Mt Kanchenjunga in the next spring season, he shared. Jiban Ghimire, Managing Director at Shangri-La Nepal Treks said that his company would provide logistics support to the Chilean climber during his expeditions.