Ivan Pirina from Arzachena begins his journey today, Sunday, which will take him from Olbia, after a few stopovers, to land in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, already 1,400 meters above sea level, at the foot of the Himalayan mountain range.
From here, he will continue towards the threshold of Mount Manaslu , which, after a stop and preparations at base camp, at 4,700 meters, he will prepare to climb. It will be a daunting undertaking, considering that only a little over 30% of climbers manage to reach the summit, which stands at a whopping 8,163 meters, almost twice that of Mont Blanc (climbed by Pirina in 2020).
A 49-year-old doctor with a practice in Arzachena, Ivan Pirina has already climbed other peaks in the world , but this one, Mount Manaslu, he declared, «is the most important of my life».
Pirina will be part of an international expedition with only one other Italian, from Trentino, with whom she has completed other climbs in the past. They will be supported and assisted by Sherpas, local mountaineering guides, whose presence is mandatory by the Nepalese government.
Pirina carries with her the flag of the Municipality of Arzachena, officially handed over to her on August 29th by the tourism councillor, Claudia Giagoni , during the presentation of the mountaineering expedition, which took place in Piazza Risorgimento, organised and moderated by the journalist Isabella Chiodino.
Pirina will naturally also be the doctor for an expedition that will involve considerable difficulties both due to the slopes to be overcome, particularly at high altitude, and the changeable and adverse weather conditions, including the bitter cold that must be endured.
For this reason, he and his companions will be equipped with appropriate gear (in addition to the technical equipment required for this type of climb), which will necessarily be heavy and cumbersome. This will include a goose-down suit weighing approximately 5 kg, suitable for temperatures down to -50 degrees Celsius (-42 degrees Fahrenheit), and two boots weighing approximately 2.5 kg each, which will keep their feet warm down to -40 degrees Celsius (-40 degrees Fahrenheit). However, Ivan Pirina emphasized, "all of this is necessary while moving; when stationary, there are other essential precautions to take."
The 49-year-old mountaineer will be participating in "a highly environmentally friendly expedition," he assured, both in terms of the containers used, plastics, and food scraps (which will be freeze-dried at high altitude) and in terms of bodily waste. Everything will be packaged in special containers that will be taken back to base camp.
