The mountain of your life |Elsa Ávila | TEDxCuauhtémocMujeres
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0:16 - 0:19Good evening.
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0:19 - 0:22This mic is working!
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0:22 - 0:26What makes a climber climb mountains?
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0:28 - 0:29Passion.
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0:29 - 0:34I started out climbing mountains,
mountains made of rock, -
0:34 - 0:39and I still remember the first time
I put my fingers and feet -
0:39 - 0:44on the mountain face and the grips,
and I felt like it was poetry in motion. -
0:45 - 0:49From that moment on, I was immersed
in a passionate adventure, -
0:49 - 0:52and, of course,
I ran into my first obstacles. -
0:52 - 0:56The first one was my mum saying:
'You're not going.' -
0:56 - 0:57(Laughter)
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0:57 - 0:59Getting her permission was very difficult,
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0:59 - 1:02but I kept climbing
and going to the mountains, -
1:02 - 1:08and I realised that I had her support
because she had no other choice. -
1:09 - 1:12Later, I needed that support
and much more intensely -
1:12 - 1:16when my dream took me
to the other side of the planet -
1:16 - 1:20to the Himalayas,
the world's highest mountains, -
1:21 - 1:23Going after ideas,
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1:23 - 1:27when few people trusted me
or when many people didn't agree, -
1:27 - 1:29gave me inspiration.
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1:29 - 1:33Because if I had an idea,
I was sure it was possible. -
1:33 - 1:39After two expeditions to the Himalayas,
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1:39 - 1:46a golden opportunity
finally presented itself. -
1:46 - 1:50This was to join a women's expedition
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1:51 - 1:56to try to climb a mountain
over 8,000 metres high in Tibet. -
1:56 - 1:59So there I was.
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1:59 - 2:03Before I went, a lot of questions came up,
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2:03 - 2:07most of them repeated over and over.
-
2:07 - 2:12'Hey, you're a woman. Why don't you
do something that's really for women? -
2:12 - 2:14That's a man's sport.'
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2:14 - 2:19Well, the fact I'm female
doesn't stop me carrying heavy rucksacks -
2:20 - 2:26or fixing a rope or sharpening
my crampons and ice axe. -
2:26 - 2:28In fact, my gender
never led to any problems -
2:28 - 2:32when it came to other climbers
allowing me to join their teams. -
2:32 - 2:36Another question I was asked
time and time again: -
2:36 - 2:37'That's a really expensive sport.
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2:38 - 2:41Since it's not an Olympic sport
and the government won't give you help, -
2:41 - 2:43how will you manage?'
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2:43 - 2:45How many activities aren't Olympic sports?
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2:45 - 2:48I had to work extremely hard,
but indeed it was possible. -
2:48 - 2:53Another: 'How do you think you'll manage
to climb to heights of 8,000 metres? -
2:53 - 2:56The highest mountain in Mexico
doesn't even reach 6,000. -
2:56 - 2:58How will you know if you can do it?'
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2:58 - 3:01Well, I had to find out and keep going.
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3:01 - 3:07After the invitation to Tibet
from the women's group, -
3:08 - 3:12I woke up one morning
to the unwelcome news -
3:12 - 3:15that one of the barrels
containing the equipment had been stolen - -
3:16 - 3:22and that the one which had been stolen
was mine, and that my boots were missing. -
3:23 - 3:27How could I dream of climbing
the mountain without boots? -
3:28 - 3:34However, I kept going.
I walked and arrived to the base camp. -
3:35 - 3:41There I found an Italian expedition
that was on their way back, -
3:41 - 3:47and one of them, who was small
like me but had bigger feet, -
3:47 - 3:49sold me their boots.
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3:49 - 3:53After many pairs of socks,
I managed to get them to fit, -
3:53 - 3:57and I was also lent equipment
because I was missing a few things. -
3:58 - 4:02We finally started the job
of setting up camps on the mountain -
4:03 - 4:07and getting our bodies used
to the lack of oxygen. -
4:08 - 4:12As I was doing this job,
I realised that the initial plan -
4:12 - 4:16to go with the women's team
wasn't working for various reasons. -
4:17 - 4:22Then I thought: 'This is my opportunity,
I can't lose it. What am I going to do? -
4:22 - 4:25I'll stick with the ones
who are climbing.' -
4:25 - 4:29So I kept climbing with them,
-
4:29 - 4:32and then came the moment
we'd all been waiting for: -
4:32 - 4:34our attempt to get to the summit.
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4:35 - 4:40We set off early in the morning that day,
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4:40 - 4:45and after sunrise,
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4:45 - 4:48I saw some other rocky peaks
to the side of the mountain, -
4:48 - 4:50and I made them my goal.
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4:50 - 4:52I said: 'I need to get there.'
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4:53 - 4:55After much effort, I did get there,
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4:55 - 4:59and I sat down to breathe the oxygen.
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4:59 - 5:02I realised I'd already climbed a long way
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5:02 - 5:08because there were mountains
and lots of clouds below. -
5:09 - 5:13We kept going, and as I went further,
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5:13 - 5:19the distance between rest stops
got shorter and shorter - -
5:20 - 5:23until I arrived at 8,000 metres,
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5:24 - 5:26the height at which commerical planes fly.
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5:27 - 5:30Suddenly the strategy needed to change.
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5:30 - 5:35My strategy had to be to go
a few steps at a time. -
5:35 - 5:38After 20 steps I would lean
against something, -
5:38 - 5:44and the reward was a short rest to take in
some of the little oxygen that was left. -
5:44 - 5:48As I got higher and higher,
those 20-step segments -
5:48 - 5:51got closer and closer
to being five-step segments. -
5:52 - 5:56Finally, there wasn't
any mountain left to climb. -
5:56 - 6:02I was at the top, and that moment
made all those questions, -
6:02 - 6:06questions based on uncertainty,
turn into great certainty. -
6:06 - 6:09People wanted to sow doubts,
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6:09 - 6:12but being on that peak
for me was a certainty. -
6:12 - 6:17And being the first Latin-American woman
to climb a mountain over 8,000 metres, -
6:17 - 6:21and breaking that kind
of barrier is so important for me. -
6:21 - 6:23That's when you say:
'Yes, it's possible.' -
6:23 - 6:28Being up there made me realise -
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6:29 - 6:31that all the mountains I was seeing,
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6:32 - 6:37and I translated all of the mountains
I saw into climbing opportunities, -
6:37 - 6:40are just waiting for daring climbers.
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6:41 - 6:47Then I went off to Patagonia,
the most southerly point in South America. -
6:47 - 6:51The altitude wasn't the difficult part;
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6:51 - 6:55it was the technical difficulty
and, above all, the weather conditions. -
6:55 - 6:57Winds of over 100 km/h.
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6:57 - 7:01You can't put a tent up;
it would be blown away by the wind. -
7:01 - 7:04Your strategy needs to change.
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7:04 - 7:08You can carve out a cave in the ice
and stay there until the time is right. -
7:08 - 7:15That's how I gave myself a chance
of getting to the Aguja Poincenot, -
7:15 - 7:17which no woman had ever climbed.
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7:17 - 7:19That was also very satisfying.
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7:19 - 7:22An experience I want
to quickly share with you is my climb -
7:22 - 7:24of the world's highest mountain.
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7:24 - 7:31I didn't get to the summit
on the first attempt. It took me three. -
7:32 - 7:38On the first one, I got to 8,750 metres,
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7:38 - 7:4198 metres from the summit.
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7:41 - 7:46You might wonder: 'Why didn't you
keep going? You only had 98 metres left!' -
7:46 - 7:53I had early signs of brain swelling;
if I'd continued, it would have worsened. -
7:53 - 7:56If it had worsened,
I'd have died, and if I'd died, -
7:56 - 7:58I wouldn't be here
to tell you all about it! -
7:58 - 8:00(Laughter)
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8:00 - 8:04In that moment I learned
that I wanted to be a living story, -
8:04 - 8:07not a dead statistic:
statistics are very simple. -
8:08 - 8:12With that in mind, I went back
to the mountain 10 years later. -
8:13 - 8:17At that time I was a mother,
so I had a great responsibility. -
8:17 - 8:23Starting back in my training days, I kept
saying to myself: 'This time I'm winning.' -
8:24 - 8:26With that conviction,
I went to the mountain, -
8:26 - 8:29and after two months away from my country,
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8:30 - 8:33I arrived at the world's highest summit.
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8:33 - 8:36(Applause)
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8:42 - 8:49What happens when mountains
you haven't chosen come into your life? -
8:50 - 8:54One of these unchosen mountains
came to my house, -
8:54 - 8:58and the route was the stairs
between two floors. -
8:59 - 9:03I started climbing them but couldn't.
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9:03 - 9:06I had to rest my head on the handrail,
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9:06 - 9:10and unlike that experience I shared
of my first 8,000-metre climb, -
9:10 - 9:13when I took some air and recuperated,
this time I didn't recuperate. -
9:13 - 9:17It started with some intense palpitations
that I couldn't control. -
9:19 - 9:23Eventually I reached the top,
and then I fainted. -
9:24 - 9:28When I regained consciousness,
I was met by my children's faces. -
9:28 - 9:34They were saying: 'Mum, what's happening
to you? You used to climb mountains!' -
9:35 - 9:41My daughter said to me later: 'Mum,
I'm scared. If you die, what about us?' -
9:42 - 9:44Right then I had to transform
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9:44 - 9:47both my children's fear and my own
into positive actions. -
9:47 - 9:52I said to them: 'I'm going to die,
just like everyone else but not now, -
9:52 - 9:54so let's go find
the best doctor out there.' -
9:55 - 10:00They gave me a pacemaker and said:
'You'll be okay with this pacemaker.' -
10:01 - 10:05I was very happy, and I dropped my kids
off at school like any other day. -
10:06 - 10:11Then I went out running
as I'd often done after dropping them, -
10:11 - 10:17and I'd hardly been running two minutes
when I felt my right arm go numb. -
10:18 - 10:21I started shaking it and said:
'What was my running posture?' -
10:21 - 10:24I live in a town where everything
is close together. -
10:24 - 10:28I looked at my arm and thought:
'What's going on with my arm?' -
10:28 - 10:31I felt my hand start to stiffen,
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10:31 - 10:33everything started going white,
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10:33 - 10:35I began to lose my hearing,
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10:35 - 10:37and I was getting dizzy.
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10:37 - 10:38I was going to faint.
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10:38 - 10:41I looked for a place
to recharge and not hurt myself. -
10:41 - 10:46While I was there, the right half
of my body started to paralyse. -
10:46 - 10:51I thought: 'No, this can't be,'
and something incredible happened. -
10:51 - 10:55My brain divided into two halves.
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10:56 - 10:59One half said to the other:
'Are you giving me a blood clot?' -
10:59 - 11:02I started feeling my face drooping,
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11:02 - 11:08and the other half said: 'Well, I already
have, at least make yourself pretty.' -
11:08 - 11:13I yanked on my face, and I think
that funny moment, that moment of opening, -
11:13 - 11:15made the veins in my brain open
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11:15 - 11:19and made the small coagulation
I'd had go away, -
11:19 - 11:23and the ischemia too -
that's its technical name. -
11:23 - 11:27Finally, one half of my brain
said to the other: -
11:28 - 11:30'Hey, imagine what would have happened.' -
-
11:30 - 11:32this was the victim side, right? -
-
11:32 - 11:35'You and your kids
would live by giving lectures.' -
11:35 - 11:36And the other half said:
-
11:36 - 11:41'It didn't, so move forward,
keep going, and let's get a move on. -
11:41 - 11:44Even if you have to drag yourself,
you're doing it.' -
11:44 - 11:45And that's what I did.
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11:45 - 11:50Since then, I've had four strokes.
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11:50 - 11:56During one of them, feeling all my senses
intensify was incredible. -
11:57 - 11:59When the doctor arrived
and asked for my hand, -
11:59 - 12:04I felt every ridge
of my fingertips on his skin. -
12:05 - 12:08My sense of smell was incredible.
-
12:08 - 12:12I could hear from a distance
the conversations people were having. -
12:13 - 12:17That was when I realised
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12:19 - 12:23that this was like
a call for me to wake up. -
12:23 - 12:29It's an awakening in my life,
and I'm aware of my condition. -
12:30 - 12:33I know it's there, but nevertheless,
how do I want to live my life? -
12:34 - 12:38Suffering? Or with intensity, full of joy?
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12:40 - 12:47How to let go of the past?
How to live the mountain of life? -
12:48 - 12:52Disconnecting from the past meant
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12:52 - 12:56putting an end to an image the press
had taken upon themselves to create, -
12:56 - 12:59an image of a superwoman who could
do anything with the will she had. -
13:00 - 13:03That mountain made me realise
that I can do things, -
13:03 - 13:07but that I also want to open my heart.
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13:07 - 13:12I want to feel, I want to be vulnerable,
I want to be pampered. -
13:13 - 13:18For me, living intensely means
surrendering every single moment. -
13:18 - 13:23Waking up, being aware
that I'm breathing, and then sharing that, -
13:23 - 13:25because then I feel like I'm being hugged,
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13:25 - 13:28and I feel loved,
and I want to feel that forever - -
13:28 - 13:33sharing that love
with the people around me. -
13:34 - 13:39So how do you want to live your life?
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13:40 - 13:45My dream is that all the climbers in life,
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13:45 - 13:50like you, dare to be a living story,
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13:50 - 13:52not a dead statistic.
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13:52 - 13:56I hope you all live day after day
with passion, at your peak. -
13:56 - 13:58Thank you.
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13:58 - 14:01(Applause)
- Title:
- The mountain of your life |Elsa Ávila | TEDxCuauhtémocMujeres
- Description:
-
Throughout her life, Elsa Ávila has faced several mountains in a literal and figurative sense. She tells us about the challenges she has faced and suggests how we can face them.
Climber, business owner, speaker, and mother of two, Elsa Ávila was the first Latin-American woman to climb Mount Everest.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- Spanish
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 14:09
David DeRuwe approved English subtitles for La montaña de tu vida | Elsa Ávila | TEDxCuauhtémocMujeres | ||
David DeRuwe accepted English subtitles for La montaña de tu vida | Elsa Ávila | TEDxCuauhtémocMujeres | ||
David DeRuwe edited English subtitles for La montaña de tu vida | Elsa Ávila | TEDxCuauhtémocMujeres | ||
David DeRuwe edited English subtitles for La montaña de tu vida | Elsa Ávila | TEDxCuauhtémocMujeres | ||
David DeRuwe edited English subtitles for La montaña de tu vida | Elsa Ávila | TEDxCuauhtémocMujeres | ||
David DeRuwe edited English subtitles for La montaña de tu vida | Elsa Ávila | TEDxCuauhtémocMujeres | ||
David DeRuwe edited English subtitles for La montaña de tu vida | Elsa Ávila | TEDxCuauhtémocMujeres | ||
David DeRuwe edited English subtitles for La montaña de tu vida | Elsa Ávila | TEDxCuauhtémocMujeres |