KATHMANDU: “I thank the economic crisis. Whatever I have done recently, it happened because of the economic crisis,” Sophie Lavaud was saying when they met in Boudha, Kathmandu, last month.

In 2008, the Great Recession caused a major crisis in Western nations. Many lost their jobs, and businesses were ruined. Lavaud was one of those who lost her business in that crisis. She ran a financial company in Switzerland with her elder brother. The company organized large investment-related conferences. After the recession, they managed to run the company for three years somehow. Seeing that it wouldn’t work out, they closed it in 2011.

After that, Lavaud set a new path—climbing 8,000-meter-high mountains. “I had the desire since before. But climbing a mountain required taking out at least two months. I didn’t have the convenience of taking a long leave,” said the 57-year-old Lavaud. After closing the company, she initially went to Tibet to climb Central Shishapangma (8,027 meters) on May 11, 2012. She climbed the next 8,000-meter-high mountain, Cho Oyu, within 14 days.

“The closure of the company was like a medal for me,” she said. Even though she easily climbed two 8,000-meter mountains in a single season, she did not desire to climb any other mountains.

“There has been competition in mountaineering from the beginning. But I don’t like it,” Lavaud says. She adopted a policy of climbing mountains comfortably. Over the last 11 years, she has climbed all 14 mountains over 8,000-meter peaks, an achievement shared by only about a dozen women.

“I tried 22 times for this success,” she said. Lavaud climbed Mount Everest from the Tibetan side on May 25, 2014. After that, she did not feel like climbing the remaining 8,000-meter mountains. After climbing Pakistan’s Nanga Parbat (8,126 meters) on June 26, 2023, she set a record for climbing all 14 peaks, making her the first Swiss, first French, and first Canadian woman to achieve this feat. Lavaud has passports from three countries—Switzerland, France, and Canada. Lavaud’s father and mother are French citizens. Her father worked for a large food company in Canada. He took citizenship there. Her mother was an air hostess for Air France. Lavaud and her elder brother, however, were born in Switzerland.

After the company she worked for closed, Lavaud started the campaign of climbing small Himalayan peaks in 2004. She climbed Mont Blanc (4,805 meters), which is located in the Alps, straddling the borders of France, Italy, and Switzerland, and is the highest peak in Europe, in 2004. “The Alps have 82 peaks higher than 4,000 meters. I have climbed 25 of them,” she said.

She also managed to climb Kilimanjaro (5,895 meters) in Africa and mountains in Latin American countries such as Argentina, Ecuador, Chile, and Bolivia.

“I used to have a three-week holiday in winter, and I would go climbing mountains during that time,” she recalled. “That inspired me to travel and climb mountains in many countries of the Southern Hemisphere.”

She suggests to others who want to enter mountaineering to start by climbing 4,000 meters and 5,000 meters and then moving on to 8,000 meters. “But 8,000-meter-high mountains are of a very different kind,” Lavaud shared her experience. Before climbing the 8,000-meter mountains, she also climbed Mera Peak (6,476 meters), located in Solukhumbu.

In her experience, people often ask which 8,000-meter mountain is easy to climb. But she says there is no such thing as easy. In her opinion, no mountain is easy to climb. The use of the word ‘easy’ is not appropriate for mountains. “It’s just ‘less difficult.’ I never use that word for an 8,000-meter mountain,” she said.

Mountaineers consider Cho Oyu and Manaslu to be accessible. “It is accessible. It is not easy,” she says. The altitude above 8,000 meters on a mountain is called the Death Zone. Climbing high mountains is considered risky due to the difficult geographical location, low oxygen levels, rapidly changing weather, and avalanches.

The reason for the risk also varies according to the mountain. Factors like manpower, logistics, and weather play a role in reducing such risks. For her, the most difficult were ‘K-2’ (8,611 meters), Nanga Parbat, and Annapurna. “K-2 is the most difficult. A combination of many things made it so. One has to walk for 10 days to reach the base of the mountain. It is very far,” she recalls, “Then you have to do 3,600 meters of nonstop climbing there. You have to continuously climb from the base to the summit. There is no place to stop.”

She successfully ascended ‘K-2’ on her second attempt on July 21, 2018. She had to attempt four times to climb Dhaulagiri (8,167 meters). She successfully ascended Dhaulagiri on October 1, 2021. She also succeeded in climbing Kanchenjunga (8,586 meters) on her third attempt on May 15, 2019. Similarly, she climbed Manaslu (8,163 meters) on her second attempt on October 1, 2022.

She not only has stories of successful mountain ascents but also many tales of the climbing process. Her experience is that she never forced herself when the conditions were unfavorable. The lower the air density and pressure are compared to sea level, the less oxygen the body receives, and the body’s cells and tissues begin to deteriorate. The heart and brain cannot function properly. The brain cannot make good decisions. Winds blow at high speeds in the areas of 8,000 meters and above. The majority of mountaineer deaths have occurred at 8,000 meters or above. No matter how fit a person is, even if they acclimatize to such an altitude, it is difficult to stay even for a few hours. The body begins to die.

“Abandoning the climb midway is also a part of the ascent. That saves a life. If I had forced myself during the mountain climb, I wouldn’t be here to tell you the story now,” she says.

Her guiding principle remains: to return alive from the ascent under any circumstances. “The most important thing is that you have to return home to tell the story. If you just remember this, there won’t be too much pressure. You shouldn’t just focus on reaching the summit. Whether the ascent is successful or not, there are plenty of stories to tell,” she says.

That is why she says she was never injured during the ascent and, except for COVID, never needed to be rescued.

Lavaud’s main profession now is telling the story of her ascents. Commercial establishments invite her as a keynote speaker, offering a good amount of money. “I speak based on the experience of success gained in mountaineering,” she says.

Currently, she is a brand ambassador for a company that makes equipment used for rescue in the Himalayan regions. Although she works in a different profession, her relationship with the snow is old. She started skiing three years ago and goes hiking.

“I did ballet dancing for 15 years,” she recalled her childhood. “Mountaineering started late. There was no tradition of it in our family.” Lavaud, who rose from a five-star hotel receptionist to a marketing manager, also worked for companies selling luxury cosmetics and jewelry.

She first came to Nepal with her elder brother in 2004. At that time, she had a great desire to reach the Everest Base Camp. However, since it was the month of February, her desire was not fulfilled as everything was closed. This time, she came to fulfill her old wish of visiting Nepal in the spring season. In the outside world, she is known as the ‘8,000 Lady.’ But Nepalis affectionately call her ‘Sophie Didi’ (Elder Sister Sophie).

During the conversation, as she was leaving, Lavaud said with a laugh, “I have been to Nepal 29 times. Next time it will reach 30. We must all sit down and celebrate then, okay?”