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INPRIMATU
Exhibition 'We have been at the summits', starting point of the centenarians of the Mountain Federation
  • On 18 May, the creation of the Basque Mountain Federation marks 100 years, and on the occasion of its anniversary, different initiatives will be celebrated in the coming months. The first is a travelling exhibition that we have been at the summits and that can be seen in the Planetarium of Pamplona, which collects over 100 photographs of the pioneers of the Basque Country.
Jon Torner Zabala @jtorner 2024ko urtarrilaren 18a
Erakusketako argazkietan ageri diren zenbait emakume eta beste batzuen senideak, Iruñeko Planetarioan / Argazkia: Aitor Karasatorre. Foku

Among them are Maritxu Sorabilla, 97 years old (ella and Maria Angeles Ciganda in the exhibition poster), Paquita Bretos, Maritxu Sorabilla, Trini Cornellana, the second woman in the Spanish state who raised the crankshaft, Pilar Ganuza, a ochomil – Cho Oytarmonría – and the first. The exhibition shows images of twenty climbers, climbers, mountaineers and skiers and panels with information about them. "There are references to alpinism that had to overcome many obstacles to be able to do what they wanted," explains Ana Diez de Ur, representative of the Navarra Mountain Federation and curator of the exhibition: "The impulse of the third wave of feminism had a great influence in the 1980s, and there began Miriam García Pascual, Monica Serentil and others. This generation was revolutionary."

Maria Angeles Ciganda and Maritxu Sorabilla, on the collado de la Gran Facha, 1950 / Fermin Aldaz

Video of the exhibition: Eleven televisions.

Tours to the highest mountains

The travelling exhibition will be held until 8 February in the Planetarium of Pamplona and will be later installed in Leioa, Ugao, San Sebastián and Elgeta, where the Mountain Federation was founded. The Federation reports that the calendar for the year 2024 is complete, but that requests can be made by 2025.

The upcoming quotes from Mendiurrena de la Euskal Herriko Mendi Biltzarra will be the tributes that will be offered in February to the federated mountaineers of Araba and Bizkaia. On 16 March, the representatives of the mountaineers of the seven territories will climb the highest mountains: Gorbeia, Mesa de los Tres Reyes, Aketegi, Artzamendi, Okabe and Orhi.

When the Mountain Federation was founded it covered the Basque Country and Navarre. In 1986 they were separated (when competences were transferred to the autonomous communities), but together they are organizing the events back to the anniversary.