We are mountains | The mountains of Marie-Pier Desharnais

When seeing Marie-Pier Desharnais, a sexy young woman, show up at base camp, male climbers tended not to take her seriously.

“They said to me: “Well, let’s see, Barbie Marie in the mountains!”, says Marie-Pier Desharnais in an interview. It’s like I don’t have the image or the makings of a person who can climb mountains because I don’t look tomboy. »

She wondered if she should distort herself to fit an established image, but ultimately decided to take responsibility.

“I was made fun of more than once, I struggled with it at the beginning, but at the same time, I like it to shake the certainties of men, of strong masculine figures. I was good, I was fit, I was fast. »

Marie-Pier Desharnais has climbed the highest volcanoes on the seven continents. She has also successfully climbed six of the highest peaks on these continents, including Everest. But above all, she reached the summit of K2, a particularly dangerous mountain, much more difficult than Everest. She is the only Quebecer to have accomplished this feat.

She just wrote a book, We are mountains, which relates his experiences in the high mountains. The story, however, begins at sea level, on December 26, 2004, in Phuket, Thailand. She is on vacation on the beach with her father and his partner when the earth shakes. The three are overwhelmed by the tsunami and miraculously survive. This experience changes Marie-Pier’s attitude towards life.

“With what we have experienced, we know that life can be taken away from us. I wouldn’t say we’re carefree, but it feels like it. »

His interest in mountains only came much later, during a trek in Nepal, when he saw Everest. It starts with small mountains, it has successes, failures, it evolves.

With experience, she realizes that the ego has no place in the mountains, a theme that comes up many times in her book.

It’s a lesson that can apply to everyone, whether you’re a mountaineer or not. The book is therefore aimed at a wide audience, but mountain enthusiasts will still find interesting information on the progress of an expedition, starting with financing. Just to climb Antarctica’s highest peak, the Vinson Massif, and its highest volcano, Mount Sidley, you have to pay more than US$100,000.

“I hurt when I talk about it, my heart, it squeek. From the start, it must have been around a million dollars that I invested out of my own pocket, with plane tickets, insurance, equipment. »

Marie-Pier Desharnais has worked in the business field for a long time, which helped finance her expeditions. She now devotes herself to conferences and accompanying groups in the mountains. Obviously, she doesn’t have a house. And we don’t even talk about the RRSP.

In her book, Marie-Pier Desharnais also addresses group dynamics, particularly in very expensive expeditions like Everest, which pit experienced climbers against commercial expedition clients.

There is talk of strategies for acclimatizing, of the danger of the famous summit fever, which makes one forget all caution.

The book is very well written. To the great surprise of the main interested party. “At first, I didn’t think I had the makings of an author. When Éditions de l’Homme contacted me, I said no, I hate writing, I want a ghost writer. Finally, I tried, the words were flowing, I wrote the whole book in three weeks in Nepal. »

Very Quebecois expressions punctuate the story, such as “brailler sa vie”. “The linguists wanted to take me back, but that’s how I express myself, I want it to sound like me, I want people to identify. »

We are mountains

Marie-Pier Desharnais

Les Éditions de l’Homme

200 pages