Cuenca flower She is the first Peruvian in history to reach the highest peaks in the world, exceeding 8,000 meters: Cho Oyu, Manaslu, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum, Dhaulagiri, K2, Kanchenjunga and Nanga Parbat. Thanks to these historic achievements, the natural mountaineer is over Ancashwas selected by the magazine Forbes as one of the “50 most powerful women in Peru”. But even if its story fills Peruvians with pride, the reality is different, as to date the company has not received any support for its expeditions into the mountains from any company or from the Peruvian state itself.
In an interview for La República, the mountaineer revealed how she got started in mountaineering, how she managed to climb the highest peaks in the world and what plans she had for the future.
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Beginnings in mountaineering
Flor Cuenca believes that her love for mountaineering has been embedded in her since childhood thanks to her roots, since she was born in the mountains and has ventured into climbing since she was a child.
“I come from the mountains. The mountains have been there since I was a child and I was born in the Andes and that’s why we have what connects us Andes with the mountains. This has always been there since we were born. This gave me the opportunity to discover what it was like to reach the top of the mountain. The first mountain I reached is about 4,500 m above sea level. It’s right in front of my house and I was 7 or 8 years old. Curiosity led me there and I have been there ever since. “I have continued to climb mountains to this day,” he explained.
When he began his studies in Lima, he had to leave his hometown of Áncash, but some time later he returned to pursue his passion.
“My first mountain with ice and that was when I was 19 or 20 years old. I was practically born in the mountains. I grew up there and for me it was like they had always been inside me. When I grew up, I went to Huaraz and I came back, so I started exploring the mountains and hiking,” he said.
Rising Kanchenjunga flower. Photo: courtesy of Flor Cuenca
After graduating from high school, she began training as a tour guide in Huaraz, as this was the only job that brought her closer to mountaineering.
“Rock climbing, mountaineering, exploring, hiking, that’s all I wanted to do. I needed the freedom to explore nature and be close to the mountains. Therefore, working as a tourism officer was the only career I could pursue.” “I could live. So it was the perfect job, the perfect career for me and then I specialized in hiking.”
His stay in Germany and his successes
For Flor, climbing the Peruvian mountains wasn’t enough, so she had always thought about leaving the country to explore the world, but she couldn’t imagine settling in Germany.
“When I finished my career as a tour guide, I wanted to travel around South America, climb other mountains, visit other cities. Once I was given the opportunity to get a student visa to learn German so I could return to Peru and continue.” “I work as a tour guide. and have a greater advantage with knowledge of languages other than English. The plan turned out differently, I liked being here (Germany),” he emphasized.
The reason why he finally decided to stay in the German country was that he had enough income to carry out his expeditions, which was not possible in Peru because he did not receive any support from companies.
On Nanga Parbat. Photo: courtesy of Flor Cuenca
“From here I can achieve my goals, I will work, I will save and I will make my mountain and that is what I am doing so far. There are other climbers who had sponsors and support.” In my case it was different. From the first moment I decided to start mountaineering, I never got any support, so I asked in restaurants, in hotels or at local businesses in Huaraz if they could support me with equipment or a suitcase, I never got it. In 2017, I tried knocking on the doors of different companies and different brands, but they never responded. A company, a brand that is well known, told me what it was, but since I don’t live in Peru, “It wasn’t that interesting,” he explained.
The mountaineer never imagined that he would climb all the mountains in the world over 8,000 meters; However, her curiosity and passion led her to climb all the peaks with her own money.
“Climbing an 8,000-meter peak is like getting a doctorate for a mountaineer. My goal was to climb without oxygen, without the help of porters or guides, but on my own and to feel the true experience of an expedition to one of the highest mountains on earth. In all my climbs I do not use bottled oxygen and not that, what is usually common, namely height sticks. I do it alone, I take all my equipment with me to the high fields,” he noted.
Flor is currently working on various jobs in Germany to finance her stay in the country and her expeditions, which she says cost around 15,000 euros.
In field 1 of K2. Photo: courtesy of Flor Cuenca
“I taught languages in Germany, but now I gave it up to devote myself to mountaineering. At the moment I’m doing normal jobs, nothing more, but yes, I have a different job, mountaineering is not my job, so to speak, because if it were “I could live out my job and have sponsors and so on, but no. “It’s more of a passion,” he said.
Thanks to her work and dedication, Flor was able to afford her expeditions over the years and became the first Peruvian woman in history to climb all the mountains in the world above 8,000 meters.
“So far I have conquered 9 mountains with a height of more than 8,000 meters and so far I am the first and only Peruvian to have done it all. In all these mountains I have been to, as a woman, I was the first Peruvian. K2 and Kanchenjunga are not. They have been climbed before by Peruvian men and women, I was the first Peruvian to climb these mountains, before my climb there was no man or woman who had climbed the peak,” he said.
Future expeditions
Flor is currently thinking about going again to another mountain above 8,000 meters, but still needs to save up to be able to finance the expeditions. He’s not yet thinking about Everest, the highest mountain in the world, because the journey is very expensive.
“I would like to try another eight thousand more, but I still have a lot of work to do for those five. Everest is very expensive, it is out of my budget, I will not be able to finance this expedition alone,” he explained.
Only an expedition against Peruvian women up a mountain over 8,000 meters has been confirmed for 2024 and is now looking for sponsors.
At the summit of Cho Oyu. Photo: courtesy of Flor Cuenca
“We are looking for support or sponsors, we send letters to the offices of various companies, we have a whole list, but to date we have not received any answers. It’s a little difficult to get the attention of Peruvian business people.” “Sport because it’s not considered a sport,” he said.
Finally, Flor emphasized that although mountaineering involves certain dangers, the truth is that you can achieve much more with your passion.
“For me there is more danger on the Pan-American Highway or on roads full of cars. It’s dangerous everywhere. You get in the car and you don’t know whether it’s the last race or whether you’re coming home.” It’s the same with the mountain, there’s We have to accept reality. It’s about living what we want to live and experiencing what is presented to us (…) If we set out to achieve something in life, anything is possible. For example, the question of equipment, materials, time. It’s just an excuse and if companies don’t support us or something like that, it doesn’t matter because in the end mountaineering is for yourself,” he said.