Cover: Karla Wheelock

“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary

“Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.” – Anatoli Boukreev

“The mountains are calling, and I must go” – John Muir

​“It’s always further than it looks. It’s always taller than it looks. And it’s always harder than it looks.”

A few months ago, I spent two weeks at a wellness center in Kerala, India. There was nothing to do except surrender myself to the ministrations of a staff focused entirely my well-being. Not being a retreat, the kind of ministrations each day ranged from being tolerable to fairly unpleasant! There were some benefits, such as no meals to plan, no exercise routines to follow, no work of any kind other than simply being present and enjoying a quiet stillness. While my reason for being there was simply for a detox and the experience, there were others who had come there for multiple health reasons.

I was expecting each day to go by very slowly, and somewhat dreading that two weeks would be too long, simply because I had never been in a state of doing nothing. However, I soon realized that I liked being in a place that seemed like a new world completely distant from everything I knew! It felt like stepping back into a slower era, one with less urgency and far fewer digital distractions. The house itself was large, of original character and old architecture with extensive woodwork, red-tiled roofs, polished cement corridors, and a central courtyard with grass and plants. There was time to observe two peacocks strutting about the grounds, their brilliant colors and patterns. Each morning at six, I would wander aimlessly to the back of the property, where a pond shimmered with orange snakes gliding through the water like ribbons. Unsettling, but strangely mesmerizing from a distance.

It was in this unhurried setting that I met Karla.

The premises, the walkers

Coming together of strangers

The residents of the retreat gathered each day over breakfast and dinner, a rotating group of strangers from different parts of the world, temporarily sharing space and time before inevitably moving on. Occasionally, small groups of us would walk through the nearby village, exchanging fragments of our lives. I was surprised to learn how popular Ayurveda is in South America, something I hadn’t previously associated with that part of the world.

Within the retreat grounds stood a small Kerala-style Hindu temple, its wooden structure home to an old idol of Lord Rama. On auspicious occasions, the temple would be illuminated by hundreds of oil lamps lining its walls, transforming it into something quietly magical. Early in my stay, I noticed one of the residents often meditating there, knowing her only as Karla, whom I had met briefly over meals. I remember thinking how disciplined she seemed, returning day after day to that space.

As we spoke more, I learned a little about her background. Just enough to spark my curiosity. I have always been fascinated by stories of mountain climbing, having heard firsthand accounts from a close friend who is a professional climber and even writing about one of his Himalayan expeditions. I love being in the mountains myself, though in other ways! When Karla casually mentioned that she had climbed Mount Everest, it stopped me in my tracks.

She agreed, generously, to sit down with me and share her story.

The Rama temple at the retreat premises

The spark is lit

Karla is from Saltillo, a small city in northern Mexico near Monterrey, located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range. Mountains were a constant presence in her childhood. From around the age of eight, she spent time exploring them with family members and friends, though at the time it was less a conscious pursuit and more a form of play.

Her turning point came as a teenager. In the 1980s, at the age of seventeen, she traveled from Mexico City to the Popocatépetl volcano – an active stratovolcano and the second-highest peak in Mexico. Standing there, something shifted. She knew she wanted to climb it. What followed was a period of two to three years spent searching for proper instruction. At twenty, she finally summited Popocatépetl, and from there, continued climbing multiple routes on the volcano and others in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt.

Personal fulfilment and Professional success

At the same time, Karla was building a conventional career. She had studied law and secured a strong position working with the Office of the President of Mexico. During the week she worked; on weekends she climbed. Eventually, she reached a crossroads familiar to many –  the choice between professional success and the deep sense of personal fulfillment she found in the mountains. By her mid-twenties, she was giving lectures and actively seeking sponsors, determined to pursue mountaineering more seriously.

A lifelong passion

Karla’s climbs expanded across continents: Aconcagua in Argentina, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo in Ecuador, Illimani in Bolivia. Training was relentless, and sponsorship was not easy to secure – particularly as a woman in a sport still dominated by men. But Karla persisted.

More grit, perseverance and accomplishment

In 1996, she climbed Cho Oyu in the Himalayas, the world’s sixth-highest peak, without supplemental oxygen. Everest remained her ultimate goal. In 1998, after finally securing sponsorship, she joined a team attempting the summit. The attempt ended painfully close – they halted at Hillary Step due to a logistical problem – of ropes being forgotten! Days later, she pushed again, reaching 7,900 meters without oxygen, but had to turn back once more.

Rather than give up, she returned to Mexico and continued training. That same year, she climbed Manaslu in the Himalayas, reinforcing both her physical strength and her resolve.

Mount Everest is the Earth’s highest mountain above sea level. Its height was most recently measured in 2020 as 8,848.86 m (29,031 ft 8+1⁄2 in).

Mount Everest attracts many climbers, including highly experienced mountaineers. There are two main climbing routes, one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal (known as the standard route) and the other from the north in Tibet.

[Source: Wikipedia]

Karla on the Everest climb

The final push

The below pictures are all of Karla’s 1999 climb of the Everest, the first Iberian-American woman to have summitted.

Karla on the summit of Everest!

An ongoing journey

Karla later went on to complete another monumental goal: climbing the highest peak on each continent. She is the first Iberoamerican woman to climb the Seven Summits, achieving this in 2005.

Yet despite these achievements, Karla speaks without bravado. She emphasizes preparation, humility, and gratitude, acknowledging that nothing in the mountains can ever be taken for granted.

Today, she travels the world giving lectures and motivational talks, sharing lessons drawn from perseverance, mental strength, and physical discipline. She is a role model for the young kids who want to achieve heights, and fittingly, she even has a Barbie doll modeled after her!

Author Jyothi with Karla in Kerala, India