Kristin Harila (36) is unlike any other Finnmarker. He had just started an extreme challenge.

The target is hairy. Be the fastest to climb all the mountains more than 8000 meters in the world. There are 14 of them in total.

And the risk of going on such an expedition was enormous.

Already at the beginning of March, Kristin began the expedition, in which she will devote all her energy and attention to the next 172 days (the world record was set in 2019 and 189 days).

On April 28, it reached the first peak on the list, Nepal’s 8,091-meter-high Annapurna mountain.

Over the next 17 days, Harila and his Sherpa entourage devoured the 8167-meter Dhaulagiri on 8 May and the 8586-meter Kanchenjunga on 15 May.

Read also: This is Frank Lke on top of Mount Everest

Not kidding

To give an idea of ​​how dangerous such an expedition would be, so died an Indian climber en route to Kanchenjunga just ten days before Kristin Harila reached the top.

It is now the highest mountain in the world which is the next peak on Kristin’s list. The peak was also harmless. One local hiking guide dies Due to altitude sickness at Camp 2 to Mount Everest on Thursday last week.

The same camp where a local hiking guide lost his life a week ago, Kristin Harila has just arrived.

– Current status is that they left Everest basecamp last night and arrived at camp 2 this morning. As they move from there it depends a bit on the weather, but they prepare to push further up, Everest is the first of several peaks, Harila spokesman Karl-Magnus Malinen told Nettavisen.

Read also: Here they line up to reach the top of Mount Everest

Support for challenges

For obvious reasons, Nettavisen itself has not been able to contact Kristin Harila. Reportedly poor with phone coverage and internet connection at an altitude of 6,400 meters – en route to Everest.

– Has he had any challenges so far?

– On mountain number two (Dhaulagiri) there is a lot of snow, so they spend a lot of time getting up. However, they had calculated that there could be large amounts of snow, so they had enough oxygen to carry, the people living together said.

Once Mount Everest at 8849 meters has been climbed, Kristin and Sherpa will continue on to Lhotse, which is scheduled to climb on the same day as Everest, before launching in Makalu between 24 and 26 May.

Read also: Kilian Jornet beat 23 Norwegian mountain peaks in one day: – This is the hardest

Got the idea on Mount Everest last year

– What is the motivation behind this project?

– There’s no good answer to that. Originally, it was a dream to go to the “Seven Peaks”. The project started at the current thought phase last year, when he also went on an expedition on Mount Everest, he said.

For the uninitiated, “Seven peaks”, or seven peaks if you will, means the highest mountain peaks on each of the seven continents. One would think that goal is ambitious enough for most people, but not for Kristin. He instead went on to climb the 14 highest peaks in the world during one season.

There are many preparations for carrying out the expedition. For several years, Harila has been climbing high mountains. He is so good that last year he broke the world record. The fastest woman to climb from the summit of Mount Everest to Lhotse. He spent 11 hours and 59 minutes there, a time he is looking to improve this year.

– Climb 14 mountains over 8000 meters in a short time. Is it possible and justifiable?

– Yes, based on physical and mental form, it is very possible to apply. Security will be a focus along the way. He will never impose himself on what is justifiable, says Malinen who lives with him.

– There is a high risk

– Have you discussed this with risk before?

– Yes, it’s been talked about. “It’s a high risk, we’re all familiar with it,” he said.

To climb the highest mountain in the world you do not do without taking any risks. It could provoke danger around every corner, or the next hilltop.

– You want to be at risk of altitude sickness, this is a very well known case. Now they have been in the air for a long time, so they are adapting well. Therefore it shouldn’t be a big deal, says Malinen and continues:

– There is a lot of weather in this mountainous area, and if there is a lot of snow – there may be landslides. Many of the accidents that happened on this trip happened because of it, he said.

– Will be a period with a lot of nerves

Malinen also climbs a lot. He thrives, unlike the people he lives with, at a slightly lower altitude.

The cohabiting person himself is at home in Vads. There he eagerly followed the reports that Kristin and the expedition team had brought. He made no secret of the fact that it wasn’t just a positive joy to experience the perilous journey going so far.

– I’m not going to hide that there will be a period with a lot of nerves, it’s true, he said.

Ever since Kristin went on an expedition in early March, everything revolved around what was in front of her. So he and his housemates haven’t had much contact lately.

– There’s very little time for that, so yeah, there won’t be much time to talk. He was focused on what he had to do, he said.