Why are there no women on the mountain?

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"At the beginning it happened to me a lot and it still happens to me from time to time. I go to a meeting with a sponsor and they see me sitting there, a woman, small, skinny, and they think: And this one is going to get on an eight thousand? I guess a man it wouldn't happen to him," says

, a regular in the very high mountains.

Twenty-five years ago he climbed his first eight-thousander, Gasherbrum II -in an expedition with a male majority that was baptized 'seven thistles and a Rose'-, between 2005 and 2007 he climbed to the highest peaks of all the continents and in the next few days he wants to reach the top of K2 to close his career.

At 62, after overcoming breast cancer and a recent autoimmune disease, there are still those who argue with her.

lived in her day

, one of the three female exceptions in the list of the 44 mountaineers who have completed the 14 'eight thousand', and in general the majority of women, whether Himalayan climbers, climbers or runners who have enjoyed or enjoy the mountains.

Up there, there is also inequality.

Although there are initiatives to combat it.

Big and small.

Fernández herself, owner of a bike shop in Oviedo, created a women's mountain biking club a decade ago that is already at 100 members.

But some larger organizations are also getting involved.

This is the case of the Ultra Trail del Mont-Blanc (UTMB), the best mountain race in the world, and one of its qualifying tests, the 'Aran by UTMB', in the Vall d'Arán, which has started a program called 'Woman in trail'.

After a long time in which the number of women in the longest races, 100 or 160 kilometers, is stagnant below 15% of the participants and even 10%, the objective is to raise that figure and bring it closer to those who they are seen in asphalt races.

30%, 35% or 40%;

those percentages would be a success.

"For this we do several things. In the first place, we have created a training group for the shortest distances, so that they remove that initial fear, that respect for the mountain, so that they see that there is no risk. We have also created a guide of specific nutrition for women. And among other things, we have awarded scholarships to runners like Lourdes Palao, who won the Gran Trail Aneto-Posets, to help raise awareness", explains

, promoter of the project and head of communication at UTMB Iberia.

The lack of time, key

The parent race, the UTMB which is held in the Alps in fact, has a macro-survey underway among the runners to find the reasons for their absence and provide imaginative solutions.

"The quickest thing would be to encourage the registration of women, help them get a number, but we want to go further. Create a complete plan to have more women in the future. time. To prepare for a long mountain race you need time and in our society, women, especially if they have a family, don't. Things are changing, but it's still like that", explains

, director of Regeneration of the UTMB, and at the same time runner.

In her experience, she has only felt fear once, running alone in Nigeria and after an orienteering error, but overall the mountain is safe.

"I have felt differences with the men when it comes to doing the project, looking for sponsors, but in the mountains there are no differences. When you are there, it is you and the mountain, which treats us all equally. I have always traveled alone and I've never had any problems," concludes Fernández, used to being the only woman in a base camp or, at most, to sharing experience with one or two others.

In the new generation, for example, there is

, who wants to beat Nirmal Purja's speed record in the 14 'eight-thousanders' or the Andorran

, who wants to climb the highest mountains in the world with her lips painted intensely red in a clear vindication of gender.

But they are still few.

Up there, there is also inequality.

Although there are initiatives to combat it.

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