João Garcia

João José Silva Abranches Garcia, (born June 11, 1967, in Lisbon, Portugal) is a leading mountaineer in Portugal. His main professional activities are as organizer and guide in mountaineering expeditions. On May 18, 1999, he became the first Portuguese man to reach the summit of Mount Everest, without the use of supplementary oxygen. Three years later, in 2002, he published a book, "A mais alta solidão" (The highest loneliness), in which he describes his experiences in mountain climbing, namely his 1999 expedition to Everest, where he endured bitter adversities. Nevertheless, João Garcia continued to climb and on the 17th April 2010, he summited Annapurna without the aid of supplemental oxygen, becoming the 10th man of all time to climb all 14 eight-thousanders without bottled oxygen or Sherpas.

Born in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, João Garcia started practicing mountaineering in 1982 (15 years old), when he travelled to Serra da Estrela by bicycle to practice rock climbing with “Clube de Montanhismo da Guarda” (CMG) (Guarda mountaineering club). In the following year (1983) he started ice climbing. In 1984 he went on an expedition to the Alps with CMG, having ascended to Mont Blanc for the first time. The following years he climbed several other summits in the Alps.

In the meantime he practised triathlon which helped him acquire the necessary physical strength to succeed in mountain climbing.

In 1993 he started his activities in the Himalayas, as part of an international Polish expedition (led by Krzysztof Wielicki) to Cho Oyu, in Tibet. The ascent was performed by a new route and without the aid of supplementary oxygen. Since then he ascended several Himalayan mountains including all the fourteen eight-thousanders.

On May 18, 1999, he became the first Portuguese person to climb Mount Everest (8848m) by its north face route, again without using supplementary oxygen. During the descent his partner Pascal Debrouwer from Belgium, fell to his death. Due to the harsh weather, João Garcia suffered from severe frostbite in his fingers and face, leading him to spend some time in a hospital in Zaragoza, Spain, where he had a part of his fingers amputated.

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Wikipedia