Jaime Viñals feels an irrepressible attraction for heights. So much so that he is the only Central American to have scaled the seven highest summits in the world, including Mount Everest, which he succeeded in doing on May 23, 2001.
A biologist by profession, he discovered his love for mountain peaks in 1987 in his native Guatemala, when he and his college friends scaled the Tajumulco Volcano, 4,220 meters above sea level. Since then, he has climbed hundreds of mountains around the world, his favorites being Mount McKinley, the Matterhorn and Huascarán. Everest is the only one he did not reach on the first attempt.
Viñals is an indefatigable dreamer. “Only someone who dares to dream and pledge his life to reach that dream makes the difference,” he wrote in his book La montaña es mi destino (The Mountain is My Destiny), published in 1995. “The limit to reaching our goals exists solely within ourselves,” he wrote at another point.
Viñals also helps others achieve their own dreams. A few months ago, he participated in a campaign to raise awareness of discrimination against children with AIDS. Posters showing his face circulated throughout Latin America. “I am aware of the real world, in which a tiny percentage of people enjoy the benefits. The few of us who enjoy those benefits have the obligation to help the neediest,” he says.
Drawing on the experience he has gained on countless trips and climbs, Viñals has given motivational talks in Guatemala and abroad. “In my talks, the mountains are the hook, but the essence is that ‘faith moves mountains’ and overcoming death is the only impossible thing in life,” he says. “Any dream can be reached if aimed for with faith.”
Physical preparation has played a very important role in Viñals’ life. Without it, he would not have been able to contend with a particular night of inclement weather during his descent of Everest, which he miraculously survived without extra oxygen. His fitness also made it easier to recover from the two broken ribs he suffered when he fell in his first attempt to climb that peak in 1994.
Psychological preparation is also important, according to Viñals. Part of his training consisted of spending 5 to 20 days with limited food and adverse weather to get used to typical climbing situations. “You have to keep thinking about the summit,” he asserts. “One step leads to another, and you say to yourself, ‘I don’t want to go down, I want to keep going up.’”
He doesn’t know where he might go next. It may be a trip to Greenland, or perhaps a mission to scale the highest summits of the world’s seven largest islands. “You have to do radically different things in life,” says Viñals. “Have a positive attitude, and go with an open mind, absorbing what's before you, forging friendships and meeting people from all over the world. The mountains have taught me to take risks.”