Experiencing difficult conditions on the mountain, not having water and having to boil snow made me happier in my everyday life and more resilient as a mom
By Marialene Tsouvelekidis
“There are false peaks only because nobody has climbed them yet”. This is one of her phrases Christina Flampouri in an interview he gave to skai.gr.
Christina Flampouri is the first Greek woman to climb it Everest and who completed the “7 Summits Project”, i.e. the ascent to the highest peak of each continent. She talks about the “accomplishments” of this trip that took about 3.5 years to complete with the risk that she would sometimes not return in time, but also about the transition from such an active life to the ascent of a very difficult “peak”, that of motherhood .
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“As soon as I gave birth to my first child, Antonis, I was afraid that I would get postpartum depression“, he says. That’s how he started the team outdoor moms (@outdoor_moms_greece)a community of moms who go on hikes with their babies, but organize many and varied activities.
How did you get into mountaineering? How did you decide you wanted to conquer the 7 peaks?
I was not a professional athlete. I didn’t even hike. Mountaineering came into my life at the age of 24. By chance I found myself on a climbing excursion. I didn’t do well at all on that excursion. I was the only one out of 30 people who couldn’t complete any route. Then the mountain started for me as a challenge, as a challenge to fight this stupid fear on that trip. Therefore, a failure was the reason for me to persevere and fight him my fear of heightswhich many of us have when we find ourselves on the edge of the balcony or the roof.
This confidence began to follow me everywhere in my personal relationships, at work. This is what I loved about the mountain
Until I was 24, I was a kid who didn’t take risks. I didn’t do things that someone else hadn’t paved the way for me. Even my hobby was what my big brother had chosen. I was sailing. The first time I did something by spreading my own wings was when I started climbing and I started to realize that through the mountain I become a stronger person. I was full of confidence, because a pass that I might not have been able to do the first time, if I worked the next time I could do it. And when I had to go through the same or a similar passage, I was stronger, more fearless. This confidence began to follow me everywhere in my personal relationships, at work. This is what I loved about the mountain. Thus, an initial challenge became a way of life.
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The 7 peaks they came a little later, when at one point I dreamed of myself stepping on the roof of the world. But I was very new to mountaineering. I knew I wasn’t ready, of course. I was ashamed to say it because I thought I would be laughed at. However, I started studying and reading what it takes to succeed. So, I came across the project “7 Summits“, a mountaineering project that combines the ascent of the highest peak in each continent. So, high level mountaineering and traveling around the world. I thought that the easiest peaks and the lowest ones will help me to get stronger, to learn something new, to be a more prepared mountaineer, so that one day I will step on the roof of the world. The 7 peaks in my mind means progress.
How was the process of conquering the peaks? Were there setbacks, steps back?
Just like on a mountain, you climb high and come back down to be able to make it. We acclimatize on the mountain. Acclimatization it is the process by which you give yourself time to adapt to the conditions: less oxygen and very cold. So, we go up to an altitude and then we come back down to rest, to get stronger, to give our bodies time to get used to it, and then we go back up again. It doesn’t mean that the road to the top is linear. Even the stops, even the days when we were tired and had to take a rest day more than planned, were part of a bigger effort and I didn’t succeed the first time, but I didn’t say failed. I said the effort is not yet complete. After a few months I returned to the same peak and managed to unfurl the Greek flag at highest peak in South Americas. Failure depends on how you perceive it.
From the moment I stepped on my first peak which was, the highest peak in Europe, the Elbrousuntil my last which was the highest peak of Antarctica, the Mount Vincennesit took me exactly 3.5 years. In those 3.5 years I was training constantly, alongside my work, because I had to have the time off to be able to climb. I’m not a professional athlete. Therefore, I had to work to live. I was going to the mountain for my permits. I used to take them all together to go on a mission.
I felt tired because I thought: ‘How much we are being chased by stereotypes’. When you see a girl delicately beautiful, elegantly made, you think it is not possible
You definitely feel tired both physically and mentally at times. I felt mental fatigue when I was looking for them financial resources to succeed. I was looking for sponsors to be able to financially support the missions. Without the companies that stood by, I would not have been able to financially support such a mission. The financial mountain was the most difficult psychologically. I could see that they didn’t believe me because they saw a little girl in front of them. I use the word girl because I was 24 at the time. I felt tired because I thought: ‘How much we are being chased by stereotypes!’ When you see a girl delicately beautiful, beautifully made, you think it is not possible. We have learned that when we say a strong man, we have in mind a man with a beard, a little unshaven…
What advice would you give to anyone with a peak to conquer?
When they ask me if I am the best female mountaineer in Greece, because I was the first to conquer Everest and the seven peaks. Of course, and I’m not the best climber. There are so many remarkable female athletes. Maybe my strategy helped me to make my dream come true a little sooner. So I would say: There are no cheat peaks. Rather, cheat peaks only exist until someone is found to step on them. There is nothing impossible. It seems theoretically impossible until someone is found to do it. Set a goal, work hard and everything will happen. Just like in life when we set goals and they seem like a mountain, if we look at it day by day and every day we do something for our goal, eventually we will reach the mountain without realizing it.
I was afraid that I would not come back fit
I’ve never had a problem with whether I really want it. I really wanted to work and see the view from 8,848 meters, which is Everest, it meant a lot to me. It meant strength for life. It was important to me that I was the girl next door, who didn’t have climbing parents, nor the financial background. There were difficult times. I was afraid that I would not come back fit. I tried with strategy, plan and preparation, to reduce the risk.
You’ve said that you wouldn’t want to be labeled as just one thing. What do you mean by that?
It seems too little to say that I am Christina Flampouri, who works for a multinational in marketing. I’m not just that. Even the mountain which is a very big part of my life. It seems very little to me to say that I am Christina the mountaineer. The author. The mom. I find that when someone has a multifaceted personality, one area seems to charge the other. The fact that I work in companies and have very good project management has helped me to be very organized in my mountaineering expeditions. The fact that I climbed high peaks taught me to overcome obstacles not only at work but also in everyday life. The fact that I lived difficult conditions on the mountainnot having water and having to boil snow made me happier in my everyday life. It made me more resilient as a mom. Having many facets I think overall makes me happier. That’s why I don’t like to be characterized by just one quality.
Now you don’t climb the mountains alone, but you also have company. Do you want to tell us a few words about outdoor moms?
As soon as I gave birth to my first child, Antonis, I was afraid that I would get postpartum depression. Before I got pregnant I was on a trip to Antarctica and I was going around the tops of the world. When I gave birth, everyone told me ‘Now you will sit inside, you will be closed, no more travel, no more’. And I said no. No more nothing. I will continue everything.
We are a community of moms who get outdoors with babies
The part of outdoor moms it was an attempt to find other girls, who maybe feel difficulty, oppression, a little more down after giving birth, because our priorities change, our groups change, maybe we don’t go out so easily. So I thought that by making a group I would be able to find other girlfriends first.
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Along the way the team grew so fast and now we are one community of moms where one inspires the other with tips, with a phone that will say let’s go for a walk in the mountains by the sea. So, we are a community of moms who go out into nature with babies, because even for newborns, nature does a lot of good, it calms them down. When we go hiking, the babies are in the carrier and sleeping. Our meetings are like big play dates.
Source: Skai
I have worked as a journalist for over 10 years, and my work has been featured on many different news websites. I am also an author, and my work has been published in several books. I specialize in opinion writing, and I often write about current events and controversial topics. I am a very well-rounded writer, and I have a lot of experience in different areas of journalism. I am a very hard worker, and I am always willing to put in the extra effort to get the job done.
