Interview with Sergi Mingote

How was your return to Spain?

After my acclimatization process in Chile, ascending four volcanoes of 6000 meters in seven days, my physical conditions were excellent. In addition, it also helped me to test all my new Millet material, and select which pieces would be perfect for Annapurna and Makalu. The return was absolutely normal, but in a few days, this great health crisis began and now is affecting everyone.

What do you think about the current situation?

I think these are very difficult times for everyone, but we have to look ahead. Our attitude needs to be positive and above all responsible. Staying home is the best decision we can and should make, not just for ourselves, but for others.

How will you manage the project you started?

These days are serving me for that, to readjust the agendas and assess which changes are the smartest. I am with very high morale since situations like this make us come out stronger and have to serve us to get our best version. At the moment I am almost certain that on June 15 I will leave for Gasherbrum I, the last eight thousand I have left to ascend in Pakistan. For the autumn I will leave the two eights that I have not been able to do in the spring for the Covid-19, the Annapurna and the Makalu.

Despite this break, are you convinced that you will finish it on time? Or do you want to start again in September?

The Korean Kim Chang-Ho needed 7 years, 10 months and 6 days to climb to all those summits, without the use of bottled oxygen. Its record reduced of approximately one month the previously 7 years, 11 months and 14 days which mythical Jerzy Kukuczka did for that same objective. I continue with the same intention to lower that record to approximately half the time, I think it is possible and I will dedicate all my effort to achieve it.

A question about these “1000 days”, is it a symbolic number or is it a carefully calculated period?

For me it has never been the most important thing if the project would finish in 1000 days. It was a symbolic number, a nice “round” number. The figure is an approximate orientation of my clear will to lower the best world record so far, and for that I have enough margin. I know it is very complicated because the non-use of oxygen makes the challenge enormous. Freezes are much more likely, recoveries slower and the effort is unmatched by those connected to the bottles. I have always “dreamed big” and I think the limits are only in our heads!

You are an official ambassador of Millet, how do you recognize yourself in this brand?

For me, Millet has always been a guarantee of quality and innovation, and before being an ambassador I already used its products. In fact, there are already eleven eight-thousand who have climbed in my sports career, and since the first in 1998, I was already a believer in the brand. Now they have gone one step further with the project Rise Up, since it totally fits with my philosophy. We believe that everything is possible, with a positive attitude and getting up to continue every time you try. Millet and Sergi Mingote follow the same path, since all our products are a clear reflection of the positivism that feeds us. I am happy.

What are your three “must haves” in your backpack?

The entire Trilogy range is my favourite. I climb eight-thousandths very lightly and quickly, and weight and durability are fundamental to me. It is very difficult for me to choose only three, but if I have to decide on three, it would be the Trilogy Mxp Down Suit to guarantee the temperature and comfort throughout my body, the Expedition Down Mitten to protect my hands in extreme cold and windy conditions, and The Trilogy Ultimate Sleeping bag, for me the best extreme bag that has been built and that keeps you stable at -40º degrees, and all this carrying only 1,300 grams of weight.

What happens after this project?

After this project, new projects will come. I do not have any doubt. My life has always followed that path, I have always believed that we must move guided by our passion, by our dreams.

Do you already have something in mind or a dream that you would like to realize?

I have several projects in mind, and one of them has never been done because of being a human being ever in history. Exploring the unknown and taking my body to the limit, that is my way of understanding life. I am Rise Up philosophy.