Jean-Michel Jordà: "There are tourists who want to buy the summit of Everest like someone who buys a Big Mac."

PalmMountain writer and filmmaker Jean-Michel Jordà has 30 years of experience in audiovisuals, 40 documentary films, and 12 international awards. His work will be screened on October 24th at the Xesc Forteza Theater. Everest Invaders, which focuses on the human destruction of a unique territory. It also questions the touristification of mountaineering, which is why it uses the term "neoalpinists."

Tons of manure and a title that speaks of "invaders." What made you decide to portray this reality?

— For 25 years, I've been going to Nepal, where I've made more than 20 documentaries about the mountains and their people. In 2017, the Montagne et partage association wanted to carry out a major cleanup of Mount Everest. So I made the film. Everest Green, and in 2022 I made the evolution with Everest Invaders. Initially, the title was Everest RecyclingBut when I arrived at base camp, to overcome the first five-meter difficulty, we had to wait in line for two hours. We discovered that people didn't know how to use crampons, ice axes, ropes... This changed the title and focus of the documentary, because we saw the invasion of the mountain.

How to climb without knowing it?

— Companies make it easy if you pay a lot of money, up to $400,000. Those who pay can climb without backpacks, with oxygen, from Camp 2 to the summit. This business has grown significantly since 2020.

Why do you think tourists are replacing mountaineers?

— People who climb Everest in the spring have the ability to pay a lot of money. There are few climbers. They want to buy the summit like someone who goes to the cinema in Madrid, with minimal risk, to take a photo at the top. They have no idea what mountaineering is. The climber follows a path that others don't usually take. On Everest, everyone looks for a route. There's a base camp with heating, hot water, a shower, and a television. Climbers don't need this; they go to tougher, more difficult-to-access places, while tourists need infrastructure. When they're on theIce hall It's obvious this isn't a place for them. They don't know how to walk safely. That's normal. They come from the city.

They don't take care of nature either.

— They're not mountaineers. Tourists who come to the Himalayas, but also to Aneto or Mont Blanc, come to consume the mountains. I don't know any mountaineer who doesn't want to protect them. Their lack of awareness stems from having the money. If they have it, they want to do it, and they can do it, as if they were going to buy a Big Mac. That's their way of thinking. Not all of them, but 90%. They're not aware of the need to protect nature, or of the history of mountain routes. They pay.

What solution do you see? Closing Everest?

— There isn't one. If we close Everest, people will go to other mountains in Nepal. There are 200,000 people who go trekking in the Himalayas every year, generating much more pollution than the thousand who trek to this summit. Mont Blanc welcomes 30,000 people every year. The documentary presents a proposal that seems to me to be the easiest to implement. It consists of people who want to climb a 7,000-meter peak having to prove they've climbed two 6,000-meter peaks beforehand. Those who want to climb an 8,000-meter peak, two or three 7,000-meter peaks. Those who want to climb Everest, an 8,000-meter peak. It's a filter for better management. Right now we're at base camp with young people who don't know how to use crampons. One day something will happen. The documentary explains that climbing Everest is now cool. If tomorrow is cool go to the moon, all these people will pay to go to the moon. In 20 or 30 years, Everest will be just a mountain again, and so mountaineers of future generations will be able to go there without any problems.

How do you view the launch of a specific mountain film festival in Mallorca?

— There are mountaineers from all over the world. I'm sure some of them are in Mallorca. I think it's interesting to show the spirit of the mountains. People who go to closer places, like the Pyrenees and the Alps, will have slightly different references than just an advertisement, and resources to have a good mountain experience. I find this interesting.