Last Friday, 26th May, Perfinasa had the privilege to receive a visit by Alex Txikon, an extreme sportsman and adventurer, who has recently become a specialist in climbing the Eight Thousanders in winter.

Alex recalled some of his expeditions (Everest, Manaslu, Nanga Parbat and a long etcetera), and at the same time left us some thoughts that are perfectly applicable to our daily working lives.

“Arms and legs are important, but mountains are conquered by using your head.

“Up there, the difference between working well and working badly is life or death.”

“You have to work without pressure, but constantly alert.”

“Discipline is important, and at 45 degrees below zero nobody can be kept waiting.”

“A rope team’s worst enemy is ambition.”

“The summit is the point at which we are furthest away from successfully reaching our goal”.

Alex explained how his work is practically identical to that of a company. Most of the year he is an entrepreneur looking for funds, he is also a project manager planning the expedition down to the last detail, has to select and hire personnel to help him with logistical tasks both at home and abroad, and so on and so forth.

It was a pleasure to listen to him and chat with him afterwards. Clear, straightforward messages delivered with a naturalness and warmth that seem unbecoming of a world TOP sportsman.

From Perfinasa we reiterate our admiration and wish him all the luck in the world in his future endeavours, which will certainly not be easy. All the luck in the world that he himself would call, “Well-earned luck from hard work”.

Finally, our utmost thanks, too, go to APD for their contribution to this initiative.