This is the first amputee athlete to climb all of the Sierra Nevada's highest peaks

Marcos González de la Peña climbed several challenging mountains over 3,000 metres high - including the highest point in mainland Spain - over a four-day period

Javier F. Barrera

Granada

Friday, 19 July 2024, 20:01 | Updated 20:14h.

The objective is to cover the 54 kilometres of the Sierra Nevada's mountains that are higher than 3,000 metres. Marcos González de la Peña, who has accomplished this feat, which has been financed thanks crowdfunding, is significant as he has become the first athlete to complete the Sierra Nevada's 'three-thousanders' with only one leg.

"I had it amputated when I was only eight years old after an accident at school, which has made me grow, adapt, mature and, above all, become a better person," the mountaineer explained.

Before starting the four-day challenge on Sunday 14 July, Marcos said, "The surroundings are spectacular but it's tough mainly because of the altitude, the instability of the terrain and the weight of the backpack. We're in for an adventure. Tomorrow the rock and roll begins."

From Sunday to Thursday 18 July, Marcos, together with his team of three guides, a friend and a cameraman who has recorded the entire route to make a documentary.

Marcos is the first amputee kitesurfer in Spain and twice runner-up in the European Amputee Football Championships (Krakow 2021 and Evian 2024). He is the father of four children, a Physical Education teacher and an inspiration for his students.

All this personal and professional experience has helped him to prepare for the challenge: "The expedition has been hard, very hard, much harder than I imagined. I knew what I was facing because I spoke to the guides beforehand and I read a lot about the Sierra Nevada, but I wasn't aware of it", he said after completing the challenge.

In stages

He said that the first stage was particularly tough: "It was practically a continuous climb. It was intense and physically demanding, but the second stage was really hard." The second stage, Marcos says, was very long. "We had Puntal de Vacares and Alcazaba, also with quite a lot of accumulated slope, and it was an eleven-hour trip."

Marcos admits that half way through his expedition he started to doubt whether he could finish. "I slumped and I had my doubts," he admitted. The third stage, on Wednesday, took him to the highest point in mainland Spain.

"We had Mulhacén from the Siete Lagunas and then to the Cerro de Los Machos, and arrival at the refuge, also with a very high difference in altitude of almost a thousand metres and another ten hours. But we were in a different mood because we knew that there was not much left. It was quite a climb," recalled Marcos.

The fourth and last day, when the team reached "the summit of the Veleta and the last peak of the Caballo". Marcos also stressed that there were no accidents. "There was only one stretch on the Puntal de Vacares that I had to go roped for safety, because the terrain was too rough".

For this exceptional athlete the experience was very positive. "It has pushed me to the limit," he concluded.

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