Q & A With Everest Expedition Leader Alejo Lazzati

We sat down recent­ly with our Ever­est Expe­di­tion Leader, Ale­jo Laz­za­ti, for a series of ques­tions about his life in the moun­tains, his approach to guid­ing, and what it takes to lead on Ever­est. Ale­jo has spent decades climb­ing and guid­ing around the world, from the Andes to Alas­ka to the Himalaya. As we look ahead to Ever­est, we want­ed to give you a bet­ter sense of who he is, how he leads, and what he brings to an expedition.

For those who haven’t met you yet, tell us a little about yourself. Who is Alejo beyond the mountains?

That’s a very pro­found ques­tion for me, moun­tains are my life. Most of my year is spent in the moun­tains teach­ing for the IFM­GA, guid­ing, teach­ing first aid as well as some safe­ty com­mu­ni­ty projects. Beyond the moun­tains, I’m the father of Anto­nia Sofia, my love­ly daugh­ter and I have a won­der­ful girl­friend in Anoush, who is also a climber. I also take care of my moth­er, which is very impor­tant to me. 

You grew up climbing in Ecuador and eventually became the country’s first IFMGA Mountain Guide. Looking back, what moments shaped you the most?

It start­ed with some com­pet­i­tive indoor climb­ing in my ear­ly years. Then, at about 20 years old, I began guide train­ing in Ecuador, which is where my pas­sion for the moun­tains real­ly took hold. From there, I entered Bolivia’s IFM­GA pro­gram and com­plet­ed my train­ing in Cha­monix, France, in 2006.

As a young climber, I went through some expe­ri­ences where risk man­age­ment was not always han­dled as well as it could have been. Those expe­ri­ences increased my inter­est in learn­ing how to do things more safe­ly and thought­ful­ly in the mountains.

You climbed Everest for the first time last season. After guiding on mountains all over the world, what did standing on top of Everest mean to you personally?

It had been a dream of mine for many years. It brought togeth­er every­thing I had learned and expe­ri­enced, mak­ing it one of the best expe­ri­ences of my climb­ing career.

What’s something about Everest that surprised you, even after years of guiding big mountains?

See­ing the scale of the climb­ing indus­try in Nepal and the com­mu­ni­ty that sur­rounds it is tru­ly unique. There is noth­ing else quite like it any­where in the world.

And then there is the scale of the ter­rain itself, with so many moun­tains over 8,000 meters. It is sim­ply stun­ning.

You’ve guid­ed every­where from Aconcagua to K2. What makes Ever­est unique?

I would say it is a place with such an incred­i­ble moun­taineer­ing his­to­ry. Being the high­est moun­tain in the world also brings a lot of atten­tion and draws peo­ple from all over the world, not only to reach the sum­mit, but also sim­ply to expe­ri­ence Ever­est Base Camp.

How would your friends or climbing partners describe you around camp?

I see myself as some­one who is always ready to solve prob­lems. I’m relaxed, fun, and easy to talk to about just about any­thing. I’m also reli­able, approach­able, and some­one peo­ple can count on.

What makes a great Everest teammate?

Some­one who has done the home­work, put in the train­ing, and climbed enough to under­stand who they are and what they are capa­ble of. Also, some­one who can man­age risk and make sound deci­sions in com­plex situations.

When things get difficult on an expedition, how do you help people stay focused and motivated?

Avoid becom­ing over­ly focused on the sum­mit or devel­op­ing tun­nel vision. It is impor­tant to have a Plan B and Plan C, and to be will­ing to stick to them. Under­stand that the jour­ney will be dif­fi­cult and chal­leng­ing, but also incred­i­bly beau­ti­ful and poten­tial­ly life-chang­ing, whether you reach the sum­mit or not.

Is there a moment from a past expedition that perfectly captures why you love guiding?

I think Denali is the best exam­ple. It requires a lot of plan­ning and effort just to get to base camp. Once you’re there, the feel­ing of remote­ness is incred­i­ble. Being ful­ly pre­pared with all the equip­ment you need in such a remote, chal­leng­ing, and com­plex envi­ron­ment was one of the best feel­ings I’ve had in the mountains.

Outside of climbing, what are you passionate about? (Running, diving, cooking… what’s your favorite way to recharge?)

I love spend­ing time in nature. Moun­tains, oceans, rivers and jun­gles are my hap­py places. I enjoy div­ing and use to paraglide some years ago. I love spend­ing time with my loved ones, run­ning and spend­ing time at the gym keeps me hap­py. I’m a big enthu­si­ast about regen­er­a­tive farm­ing and cir­cu­lar sys­tems and hope to grow my own food one day!

If someone joined you for dinner after an expedition, what would you cook?

I enjoy a lot Argen­tin­ian asa­do, some good sal­ads and a nice dessert… all in an open space with nature and some dogs run­ning around.

What’s one lesson the mountains have taught you that has nothing to do with climbing?

Plan­ning. The moun­tains have taught me to think of almost any activ­i­ty as an expe­di­tion, a process with dif­fer­ent stages, unex­pect­ed changes, risks, and chal­lenges. What­ev­er we take on, prepa­ra­tion and a pos­i­tive mind­set can make all the difference.

If you could climb one mountain anywhere in the world that you haven’t been to yet, where would it be?

Kil­i­man­jaro, I haven’t been to Africa yet and would love to lead an expe­di­tion there. Antar­ti­ca also is on my buck­et list.

What’s one thing every Everest climber should know before arriving in Nepal?

Know the pro­gram you’re join­ing and under­stand the rea­sons behind how and why you spend your time on the moun­tain. It’s impor­tant to under­stand each stage of the climb, what to expect, and the dif­fer­ent sce­nar­ios that can unfold along the way.

When clients finish an expedition with you, what do you hope they remember most?

That it was a pos­i­tive and chal­leng­ing life-chang­ing expe­ri­ence. That we made the right deci­sions along the way and that we were safe and respect­ful to our­selves, oth­ers and the mountain. 

Bonus rapid fire:

Coffee or tea? Or?

Cof­fee!!

Favorite mountain besides Everest?

Anti­sana in Ecuador

Favorite meal at Base Camp?

Soup, mashed pota­toes with chick­en and some veggies

Window or aisle?

Win­dow, absolutely.

Sunrise summit or sunset?

Sun­set after sun­rise on sum­mit day!!

One piece of gear you never travel without?

Buff for my neck

Favorite recovery meal after a climb?

Beef and sal­ad, sim­ple, a glass of wine maybe.

Three words that describe your guiding style.

Safe, strate­gic and unique.