The First Turkish Woman to Summit Aconcagua (Hardwear Sessions)

MHW Fan Becomes the First Turkish Woman to Summit Aconcagua
By Gulnur Tumbat, Assistant Professor at SFSU

Aconcagua Summit

Gulnur Tumbat at the top of Aconcagua | Photo Courtesy of Gulnur Tumbat

I am an academic and I love my job. One problem however is that during the Falls and Springs of every year, or in other words, during the climbing seasons in the Himalayas, I have to be at school teaching my undergrad and MBA students. There are always sabbaticals to go back to Himalayas, but only every 7 years. It can be challenging. That leaves winters and summers for my research and travels. It was one of those "I can't breath" moments when I started to plan my last winter. I needed to take a break from writing. The choice was easy: it was climbing season in South America. So, I contacted a few friends whom I like to hang out and who are good climbing partners. Job issues and other commitments was a problem so no one was going to be able to make it. After reading many legitimate climbing reports and after talking to my guide friends, I got a feeling that I may be able to climb Aconcagua solo. I put together my itinerary, went over my gear, upgraded some and I was ready. It may sound like a 10-minute preparation but it stretched out over months. Oh, I have been climbing for 15+ years, train outdoors pretty intense, and more importantly I consider myself having the right attitude and understanding of what it takes to climb big mountains. This is not a place for a climbing resume (well mine is way too short to mention on a website like this one anyway) and you don't know me as a person, so this is all I can tell you about my background if you are wondering who I am. I find myself lucky that I also get to combine what I love to do with my job, that is my climbing and my research on risk marketing and risk consumption. I use high-altitude climbing expeditions as my context - not just by reading about them but by being part of the actual experience (the best way of learning!). There is still not enough experience, not enough knowledge, and not enough skills, but one has to go out, climb, and play more to improve and learn more, right?

Gulnur Tumbat Summits Aconcagua

Summit of Denali | Photo Courtesy of Gulnur Tumbat

Everything felt like it was under control, except the idea of going solo. If you are a regular on Mountain Hardwear website, you know better about those incredibly talented Mountain Hardwear athletes the real mountaineers and what they can do. Mine means nothing near and happens on one of the most popular, most crowded (partly due to it being part of the 7-summit frenzy), and zero-technical climbs: on Aconcagua's normal route. However, it felt right and I felt ready - no reason not to try. I packed my gear, food, and extra bag which was to be left in Mendoza full of summer dresses to be worn while drinking wine there. Everything went according to the plan - well, mostly. I had to make two important decisions - one not to go up while some people were going up and instead going back to base camp to wait out a potential storm and the second one to keep going on the last traverse towards the summit while some people ahead decided to turn around (long stories). Well, those times were relatively intense moments that I constantly questioned myself. At the end, everything came together, I reached the summit and felt good that I was able to do it without significant problems. Going down, I felt even stronger and had a great sleep at the high camp for the first time in the past three days. After 15 days on the mountain I was able to spend a few days in Mendoza with my boyfriend, drinking wine and watching myself quickly and happily become a carnivore lost in the delicious meats of the region. I later found out that now I am officially the first Turkish woman to summit the highest peaks in North America (Denali in 2007) and South America. I also noticed that I have the exact same outfit on the summits of both mountains - head to toe all Mountain Hardwear. My favorite being my Subzero Parka... That thing does work!