Garuda Indonesia Colours Magazine December 2017 | Page 98

96
Explore | Interview
There are only eight
seven-summits climbers
from Indonesia and none
of them are women.
Dian Indah Carolina, had fallen ill and could
not make it. Hilda said it was one of the most
heartbreaking turns of events in their journey.
“At 6,200[masl], I carried Caro back to the
second camp that is further down, where
there’s a medical facility. There isn't any
helicopter, so we had to work together to
bring all of our stuff and made sure Caro was
evacuated to a hospital,” she said.
After Everest, the two said their next goal is
to finish their undergraduate programme in
international relations at Unpar. When they
signed up for the seven summits expedition
in 2015, they knew that such a chance would
not come twice in life.
As students, they have been able to send
proposals to companies and raise money for
the long voyages. The cost for each trip has
varied, ranging from IDR 200 to 500 million.
The journey to Everest will be the most
expensive, as it may cost up to IDR 2 billion
each. It includes training, gear, mountain
permits, logistics and other travel expenses.
Back in August, Hilda and Didi made
headlines on the major Indonesian news
outlets after their return from Denali in
Alaska. It was the sixth peak they had
conquered in the past three years. This leaves
the great Everest as the final step of their
seven summits journey.
“We are both excited and scared. We hear so
many things about the journey to Everest.
There are a lot of risks, so that’s why we are
training really hard to make sure we are
ready,” Hilda said. “And it’s not only about
the mountain. We also want to see how the
people there live their lives.”
The two best friends, both 24 years old, hail
from Tangerang in West Java and were raised
in different kinds of families. Hilda, the
eldest of the two, is the only mountain
climber in her family, whereas Didi, the
youngest of three siblings, comes from a
family of mountain climbers. They go to
Parahyangan University (Unpar) in Bandung,
where the culture of mountain climbing is
deeply rooted in the university’s community
of nature lovers, Mahitala.
Although the two of them love outdoor
sports, Didi said they only began mountain
climbing in 2013, a couple of years after they
entered university and joined Mahitala. After
climbing Indonesian mountains such as
Papandayan, Gede, Sindoro and Pangrango,
the seven summits mark their first
encounters with foreign landscapes.
“In Indonesia, we deal with rocky tracks,
thorny bushes and tropical rainforests. On
foreign summits, we learn to survive icy
surfaces, snowfall and storms. Occasionally
there is also a whiteout,” Didi said.
To prepare themselves for Everest, Hilda and
Didi juggle a variety of hard training sessions,
such as jogging, running, trekking, bouldering,
swimming and rock climbing, for six days a
week. They also study the Wim Hof Method,
a breathing technique known to produce
enzymes that help the body survive in cold
temperatures. The exercise takes place in
a swimming pool with ice blocks.
“We only do this technique when the
wind strikes so we don’t get frostbite or
hypothermia during expeditions,” Hilda said.
Even though Didi and Hilda have already scaled
six out of the seven summits, not all of their
ascents have resulted in happy endings. In
January 2016, the two of them hugged and cried
at the top of Aconcagua because their friend,
“It is something that we may never be able
to afford on our own,” Didi said. Hence,
they know that postponing graduation and
their future careers is a risk worth taking.
Didi and Hilda are also working on a
book and documentary, which are
planned for 2018.