As some of you may know and have read on this blog, earlier this year I went to climb a 6000m mountain in Bolivia’s Cordillera Real. The trip was organized by two gentlemen, one a Bolivian named Iván Berdeja, and one a German named Christian. I have been keeping in touch with Iván, as he’s got lots of climbing experience, and with the latest email I sent about going to attempt Aconcagua, I got this reply:
Dear Wiktor,
I have very bad news. Our friend Iván died on Oct. 17 at the Cordillera Quimsa Cruz during a hike with a group of Italians. There was a lot of fog and he went forward in search of a path (there is a part with no path), he slipped and fell 250m. I can not describe to you the sadness we feel here. Ivan was a very, very good person.
I very much regret having to write that. At the same time I wish you a good expedition to Aconcagua. Please, will you leave a note in memory of Ivan at the summit?
Luck and greetings,
Christian
So I’ll say that this was totally unexpected, and I don’t really want to write any more commentary about it. I will let the letter speak for itself. However, what I will do is take a picture of Iván to the top of Aconcagua and leave it there (if I make it up). May he rest in peace.
Tags: berdeja, bolivia, climbing, ivan, ivan berdeja
VICTOR, AGRADECIDA CON ESE HERMOSO GESTO EN EL ACONCAGUA, NO SABES LA TRISTEZA PROFUNDA QUE AUN TENEMOS QUIENES HEMOS COMPARTIDO CON EL DAMOS LAS GRACIAS A DIOS POR HABER TENIDO LA DICHA DE CONOCERLO COMO COMPAÑERO Y AMIGO.
GRACIAS
[...] me set up my climb in Bolivia, and he later died while guiding for another group. I mentioned it here in a previous post, and it was an absolute honor to make it to the top and be able to do what I was [...]