The lie flies over the mountaineer Grase Tseng and her records in several eight thousand: "I was also amazed to get them"

• Report Why are there no women in the mountains?

Until last October 4,

, known as Grace Tseng, was considered a high-altitude tourist.

Coming from Taiwan, a country without tradition, and without previous experience as a climber, she had broken some records - the first woman to climb Kangchenjunga in autumn, the youngest woman to summit Annapurna without oxygen... - but in the heights no one paid much attention to him.

Too many Sherpas accompanied him, too easy were her routes.

At 28 years old, even her intention to surpass Edurne Pasaban and become the youngest woman to climb the 14 eight-thousanders went unnoticed by the large number of applicants for the milestone -one of them, the English

, is 22 years old- .

Until October 4.

“Grace has reached the top of Manaslu in 13 hours and without artificial oxygen.

She has set a new female speed record on this mountain », she published that day by the Sherpa company that helps her, the Nepali Dolma Outdoor, and the surprise reverberated on the roofs of the planet.

As?!

In a delicate Manaslu, a few days after a deadly avalanche, Tseng had not only reached the summit, he had done it without help and in the same time as

, a star of Himalayanism, a specialist in fast ascents.

A feat.

An achievement.

An incredible feat.

Which, apparently, was not such.

The magnitude of what has been achieved led specialized media such as Mozgasvilag or Kris Annapurna to investigate Tseng, to search his photos, videos and GPS files, to question his story and in the end the highest mountaineering authority, 8000ers.com, was blunt. : "He did not reach the summit."

According to studies, he stayed at least 130 meters from the top.

Although the climber still defends the veracity of her record, it will never be accepted.

What happened? The records are things of the foreign press.

We weren't chasing him.

And of course we were also amazed to get it.

Thank God we had the right pace, the right time and the right team.

«My inspiration is the mountains themselves.

I still remember the first time I trekked Everest Base Camp in 2019, I was transfixed by the beauty of nature.

That's when my perspective on life changed.

I hadn't done eight thousand before, but I had done a lot of trekking in small mountains.

I hope to complete the 14 eight thousand, although it will depend on financing and the limits of my physique, "she explains in conversation with EL MUNDO via email while maintaining his activity, especially on networks, as if nothing had happened.

In reality, after the Manaslu disappointment, he was also considered to have failed to summit Kangchenjunga, his record was thrown into doubt and mountaineering returned to a recurring debate: How to certify records?

The classical conception of Himalayanism assumes that no one lies about their expeditions, but that view could not be more innocent.

There is too much sponsorship money and too much media attention at stake.

The shadow of doubt hangs even over historical references of the skies, such as the Swiss

, and the verification methods continue to be traditional, scarce.

For a record to be approved, the mountaineer only has to ensure that he has achieved it and pass the subsequent interview with the notary on duty.

It is this one, formerly the historic

and now the German

, editor of 8000ers, who must certify the solidity of the story and, if in doubt, only if in doubt, investigate further into the evidence provided and, above all, into the narrations of the climbers who were on the same mountain in the same season.

On most occasions, suspicions are not cleared up and the unknown remains in the air forever.

On most occasions, it ends up being a matter of believing or not believing the mountaineer in question.

Technology, such as the popular Garmin InReach, a satellite device, should have put an end to these controversies, but at such an altitude it can cause problems - is what Tseng argues - and there are those who consider that its use detracts from the romance of such epic adventures.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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• Articles Javier Sanchez