The caption of a fine tattoo that appears on the inside of the right wrist, accompanying the silhouette of Urriellu says: where I am who I want to be. A tribute to these mountains which occupy the thoughts, feelings and reason for being of Noelia Ordieres Buarfa Mohamed, a Llanisca of vintage 85. A “non-professional” mountaineer, she emphasizes, who is preparing to return to the Pamirs, in Central Asia.
She is pursuing a dream: to become a Snow Leopard, recognition obtained by those who complete their five seven thousand. This summer, he climbed Lenin Peak (7,134 meters) in Tajikistan, a place he discovered thanks to the story of Elvira Shatayeva and her seven teammates.
It all started after an injury. Four years ago, he broke his leg training at the climbing wall, forcing him to take a year off. During her recovery, she said she read 23 mountain books to “stay connected” to her, even if she couldn’t go. This is how she discovered the story of the Soviet mountaineer who led the first all-female team to the Lenin summit.
In 1974, Elvira Shatayeva, Nina Vasilyeva, Valentina Fateyeva, Irina Lyubimtseva, Ilsiar Mukhamedova, Tatiana Bardasheva, Lyudmila Manzharova and Galina Perekhodyuk died during the descent, in an extreme example of sisterhood: they decided not to abandon a sick companion even knowing that it would lead to their death.
A silent death
The weather conditions during the descent appear to be the root cause of the accident, but, according to Ordières, the system itself also kills them in one way or another. “I am looking for information on this story and I find very little. The USSR hides it: what happens there stays there,” he explains. It is this research that pushes her to climb this mountain, which she crowns in August 2025, following in his footsteps and as a gift for her 40th birthday. She found the remains of these eight women at the base camp, more than 4,000 meters above sea level, exactly 51 years after their death.
This challenge was the motivation for his “very difficult” recovery, and even today he has not regained one hundred percent mobility. It’s not for nothing that it has two plates and 16 screws. “We have to move forward despite the pain. I have to prepare as much as possible.” Ararat, the Atlas and the Asturias mountains, among others, were milestones on their route to Kyrgyzstan last August.
Ordières explains that Elvira and her team were pioneers of Soviet and world mountaineering, but despite this, their story remains unknown. “I noticed that one of the greatest tragedies in mountaineering, and the first and only high-altitude rescue that allowed so many bodies to be brought down, had gone unnoticed,” he emphasizes. It also highlights how the equipment they had was obsolete compared to the men’s teams and emphasizes Soviet patriotic education: a sick woman and the others who accompanied her, even knowing that no one would come to their aid.
It was the first time that the Pamir Mountains opened to the world and there were 170 climbers of different nationalities in the region. “They were blamed for what happened. At one point, they even apologize for being disappointed, when they had already arrived at the summit and the storm caught them,” he emphasizes.
Noélia Ordières also has a luxury witness: Elvira’s husband, Vladimir Shatayev, who, at 88 years old and after having published a book on this event in 2023, tells her the reality of this moment. “He had to seek permission from the Soviet Sports Committee to organize a rescue that took a year of planning. From hundreds of volunteers, he chose thirty, including two women. It was the best rescue in history, based on his philosophy that bodies belong not on the mountain, but on the earth.” That’s why they rest at base camp.
Meeting them on the 51st anniversary of his death was the “most exciting” moment. “If I was there, it’s because they were there. I knew their story, I recognized them as women, as athletes and as lovers of the mountains.” He insists that “it’s a series of circumstances that kills them, not a lack of preparation.” And there, the memory of Vladimir returns.
Fill yourself with courage
“They had to show courage to do it. And I think that’s still the case,” said Ordières. “During Mountain Weeks, only 10% of screenings are intended for women. » She talks about imposter syndrome, the feeling that what you do is worthless. “I have to fight to remember the importance of what I do. I carry the same weight, with my 53 kilos, as my guide at Lenin, Fernando Recalde, with his 80. We carry out projects in all these conditions.”
It also refers to not being a professional athlete, being a normal woman, with a professional life and, in many cases, with children. “Why don’t I go for big challenges, which in my case is climbing the biggest mountains in the world?” he asks.
She also recalls that “there is no age to do it” and quotes the explorer Alexandra David-Néel, who at the age of 55 became the first Western woman to enter Lhasa, in 1924. “Today, we should have moved forward so that at any age, projects can be undertaken. But there are many obstacles that prevent us from dreaming big. Sometimes, the big project is to visit all the peaks of the Peaks. of Europe. This is what everyone considers.”
The importance of visibility
This is why she insists on the need to make projects led by women visible, so that they serve as a reference. He also highlights the specific handicap of mountaineering: “It gives rise to a debate about what is or is not a sport, and is determined by competition. We cannot benefit from aid because we do not compete.” He gives the example of a 123rd place in a speed climbing competition rather than a week-long trek in the Tatras, “where you risk your life”. “If we add gender status, we have the perfect cocktail for not going out anywhere.” This also explains why the story of Elvira Shatayeva and her companions remained invisible for more than half a century.
Currently committed to the goal of reaching five seven thousand and becoming a Snow Leopard – a title that only the Galician Chus Lago has obtained in Spain – Ordières is preparing the 2026 expedition to the summits of Comunismo (7,495 meters) and Korzhenevskaya (7,105 meters). The Pobeda (7,439), the most difficult of all, and the Khan Tengri (7,010) would still be pending.
This speaks to the increased complexity of climate change and the need for economic and technical resources. In this campaign, he benefited from the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports and Puru Remangu. The visibility of the project on social networks also stands out: its publications on Lenin reached more than 100,000 views, 60,000 on the day of the summit alone, and almost 400,000 in recent months.
With the conference The Expedition to Picu Lenin and the story of Elvira Shatayeva participated in the Mountain Week San Martín del Rey Aurelio; in Villaviciosa; and on Monday 22, it will be a preview of the Torrecerredo Mountain Group Week, in Xixón, the most important in Asturias.
He says one of the most common questions is whether he wasn’t afraid. His response is immediate: “I prefer to die like this than at home without living. I have no fear of death. I am more afraid of not living while I am alive.” And he concludes by paraphrasing José Saramago: “We always end up arriving where they are waiting for us. »
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