The athlete with cerebral palsy who reached the summit of Mont Blanc in 11 hours

BarcelonaJordi Tosas, an experienced mountaineer who has seen it all, was rubbing his eyes. A few days ago, he was tasked with being the adventure partner of Pol Makuri, the athlete with disabilities who wanted to climb Mont Blanc. He wanted to, and he succeeded. Makuri completed the ascent from the Tête Rousse refuge, a 14-kilometer stretch with 2,800 meters of elevation gain, in less than 12 hours. "It was impressive guiding him through all my fears and doubts, especially on the descent," says Tosas.

Makuri had been making this ascent for some time to pay tribute to Sergi Mingote, the Vallecas mountaineer who died in 2021 on K2. "Sergi told me that we would climb Mont Blanc together, and when he died in the K2 accident, I promised myself that I would climb in his memory," explains Makuri after reaching the summit.

Pol Makuri, with the support of the Salomon brand, He has been surpassing himself for years to demonstrate that cerebral palsy Suffering is no excuse to stay still. He participates in mountain marathons, climbs peaks, and gives lectures. As a young man, he played hockey, determined to always be active. Makuri was born with hemiparesis, a cerebral palsy that limits his mobility along with his right side of the body. "In another life, I would choose to have a functional diversity because it has allowed me to live unique experiences and have a super-rich life," says Makuri, born in 1991 in La Paz, since his parents were living in Bolivia as aid workers at the time. "This project began in 2016 with the mountaineer Sergi Mingote, whom we met one day in Barcelona. While talking, I explained to him that I practiced mountaineering. Then, he suggested the possibility of climbing Mont Blanc together," explains the adopted Igualada native. "When Mingote unfortunately had the accident on K2 that cost him his life, I promised myself that I would climb Mont Blanc in his memory, to dedicate it to him, and here it is. I wanted it to be something very special, very intimate, and that's why I presented the project to Jordi Tosas and Salomon," he adds.

The route chosen for the ascent is the so-called Goûter route, an itinerary that most people who climb this peak do using two refuges, the Tête Rousse and the Goûter. "The idea was to start from the Tête Rousse refuge, but the weather changed our minds, and seeing the perspective and knowing that Pol and his team were very strong, I decided to start from below, but they didn't listen to me, and in the end we did a mix: we used the first Bellevue lift and from there we went to the Tête Rote refuge. At the top, we reached the summit and then descended again, which means that in a few hours we accomplished what people do in three days," explains Tosas.

Since Sergi Mingote's death, Pol Makuri was very clear that he wanted to dedicate the summit of Mont Blanc to him. It was a matter of fitting the dates together. "This year we finally found the time. For me, it wasn't about being a guide, it was more about being his partner. Pol is a very special person. He's motivated my children and is very inspiring. I didn't know about the promise he'd made about Sergi Mingote; if I had, it wouldn't have been a good fit. I loved it. Also, the speed we achieved was impressive," says Tosas.

Pol Makuri will remain in Chamonix these days, as he will also participate in the OCC-UTMB Mont Blanc, the final event of the UTMB World Series circuit in the 50-kilometer category.