Ester Sabadell: “Now I put my hands on my head about things I wouldn't do even as a joke.”

PalmCatalan mountaineer and filmmaker Ester Sabadell is a member of the jury for the 16th Colonya Palma Film Fest, which will award several short film prizes. She is well acquainted with the reality she will be examining: she worked as a camera operator on the Spanish-language TVE program. On the Edge of the ImpossibleCarrying the camera on particularly challenging routes, she admits, "is a plus." "You barely have the strength to climb, let alone go ahead of people, take out the camera, ask them to wait, because you have to film, and of course, people don't wait because they're doing their best," she recalls: "It's very difficult." She recalls as an anecdote that she once "slept with the camera batteries in her sleeping bag so they wouldn't run out." "In the end, the camera is your partner; you become a friend, you sleep," she recalls.

In her long career, she has summited several peaks over 8,000 meters, such as Nanga Parbat, Broad Peak, and Manaslu. However, she emphasizes that these goals are not, for her, the most important aspect of mountaineering, because "it's not like any other sport" that can be judged by purely competitive criteria, by time. "What we like about mountaineering, climbing, or mountaineering isn't wanting to look like the best or only see the best, but rather what we get from what we experience in the mountains," he says. "It's all very well rewarding sporting merit, but it's even more important to convey that the mountains are something more." Finding that extra something will be his main criterion as a jury. "I don't like to work with templates, scoring separate elements; a good documentary or film, in a large percentage, when you finish watching it you say 'yes,' and that 'yes' is due to the script, which is why it's one of the things I value the most, although it must be well-acted, with good rhythm, music, well-rounded," he continues. "My way of deciding."

He talks about the need to be in shape and have the patience to reach the summit. "It's a sport that requires discipline, testing yourself before you go, although this isn't fashionable these days," he says. "Many people who do high mountain climbing are closer to 40 than 20." In addition to one's physical ability, he points to "knowing yourself and your body" as one of the great secrets to success. But he also highlights "mental strength" as a key element. "The secret word is motivation: if you don't have it, no matter how much willpower or mental capacity you have, you won't make it," he explains. "These are sports that require such sacrifice that, if they had to put a price on it, you wouldn't do it; instead, you're driven by passion." From this, he draws a life lesson: "You have to put passion into what you do." There's another element that hovers over this activity, which is risk management. Over the years, he comments, "fear is managed differently." "You become more cautious, whereas when you're younger you make a lot of reckless mistakes, out of ignorance rather than courage," he admits. "Now I put my hands on my head at things I wouldn't joke about."

From his own experience, he values both achievements and failures. "Some teach you happiness; others, a lesson, and they are equally important," he says. Of the latter, he highlights his first attempt at an 8,000m climb on Hidden Peak. "I went with friends, and we stopped 800 meters short of the summit; we couldn't continue due to bad weather and illness," he recalls. "I thought I had missed the boat of my life and that I would never have another opportunity like that again, that I had screwed up," he explains. "That failure opened a huge door for me."