World's highest peaks await Clara

Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta

Clara Sumarwati, 35, never dreamed of becoming a mountain climber as a child. She would be scared to climb a short tree at her home.

But mountaineering became her greatest passion as she grew up. In 1996, she became the first women in Southeast Asia to set foot on the peak of 8,848-meter-high Mt. Everest.

Her name is recorded as the fourth Asian woman and the 39th woman in the world to have conquered Mt. Everest. The achievement won her the Nararya Star award from the Indonesian government in 1996.

"I think I'm still the only ASEAN woman ever to have reached the peak of Mt. Everest," Clara told The Jakarta Post while doing exercise at Kirana Health Club, Radisson Yogya Plaza Hotel.

Currently, Clara is preparing for a solo climbing expedition to four of the world's highest peaks: Mt. McKinley (or Mt. Denali, as locals call it) in Alaska, Kilimanjaro in South Africa, Mt. Cook in New Zealand, Mt. Elbrus in Russia, and go on expedition to Antarctica.

"If I have the funds, I would also like to continue the expedition to Mt. Makalu in Nepal and Mt. Monterosa in Switzerland," said Clara.

As part of her preparations, she plans to leave for the U.S. in October this year, or between April 2003 and May 2003, depending on the weather there.

"I will take with me three Nepal guides for the expedition. I like the Nepalese because they do more than just lead the way: They also help carry the equipment, thus lessening the burden," she said.

Clara will drop by in Massachusetts to shop for equipment and join a month-long practice at the American Alpine Institute as part of her final preparations, before starting the Rp 1.5 billion (about US$165,000) expedition.

She started preparing early this year under the supervision of fitness consultant Joko Pekik of Yogyakarta State University sports school. A comprehensive program has been prepared for Clara to train partly in Yogyakarta and mostly in Jakarta.

The preparation program includes a three-times-a-week slow continuous run for some 10 minutes to 15 minutes; twice-a-week fitness and aerobic exercises, a once-a-month high altitude exercise in Gunung Gede Pangrango, West Java, a once-a-month rock-climbing exercise in Citatah (also West Java), and a strict low-fat diet.

Clara is required to undergo high-altitude testing at Lakespra Saryanto space institution, Jakarta, every three months and another test of her maximum oxygen capacity at the Ministry of National Education in Jakarta, also once every three months.

"Rigorous preparation is vital for the expedition. Lack of preparation could result in failure," said Clara.

Born in Yogyakarta in July on 8, 1967, the sixth daughter of the eight siblings of Marcus Mariun and Ana Suwarti, Clara's childhood dream was to become a legal expert. But she could not say no when her elder brother enrolled her to study educational psychology at Atmajaya University in Jakarta.

"Then I had wanted to become a guidance and counseling teacher at high school," she said.

But destiny took another turn. After finishing her university studies in 1990, she joined an expedition to Nepal to conquer the peak of Anapurna IV 7,525 meters above sea level.

Luck was not on her side. She had to stop at Camp 2 (at 7,000 meters above sea level) because the oxygen that the team carried was insufficient to continue the journey.

Her climbing spirits were high after she succeeded in conquering Aconcagua in Chile.

Her second attempt on Mt. Everest ended in failure in 1994 due to bad weather on the southern route (the South Col). She made another attempt in 1996, this time taking the North Col, where she sustained minor frostbite in one hand. She made it.

"When I realized I'd been frostbitten, I quickly took off the glove, which I later found out had a leak, and put my hand in my armpit before putting on a dry substitute glove," Clara recalled.

Her passion for mountaineering grew out of her curiosity about why most climbers failed to reach the world's highest peaks.

"I found out later that it was mostly due to their lack of preparation and patience," Clara said. The lack of preparation make the climber vulnerable to "mountain sickness".

"Patience, too, determines the climber's success. Sometimes, a climber lacks the patience to wait for good weather to continue the expedition. If he insists on going ahead in bad weather, he will likely fail," said Clara.

She has also planned to join the Asian women's team comprising women mountain climbers from Indonesia, Japan, India, Nepal, Malaysia and Thailand, for another expedition to Mt. Everest via the South Col route, which Clara failed to complete in 1994.

"I want to make up for my failure in 1994," said Clara, who is also planning to establish the Indonesian Mountaineering Association within two years.