Andoni Ormazabal (Xabier Ormazabal Festa), Javi Antúnez (EMF-FVM), Ibon Mendia (grant awarded), Jabi Baraiazarra (Mendi Film)

The event in memory of Xabier Ormazabal served as the setting for the announcement of the fifth edition of the grant named after him. The Navarran mountaineer and climber Ibon Mendia will receive support for his project to complete the full traverse of Cerro Torre, linking Cerro Standhardt, Punta Herrón, Torre Egger and Cerro Torre.

Mendia will be accompanied by Mikel Inoriza and Tasio Martín. During this crossing, they will have to climb some 1,650 metres, over ice, rock and mixed terrain, Alpine style, that is to say, without fixed ropes, without external assistance and carrying all the necessary equipment. 

The grant’s jury, formed by Oscar Gogorza, Unai Mendia and Mikel Zabalza, after studying the four projects submitted, unanimously decided to award the prize to Ibon Mendia. In addition, the Xabier Ormazabal Grant will also support another project, the Onbelay app, with a grant of €2,000. Manuela Nieto, Kento Reinoso and Ignacio Villanueva, from Madrid, have created a mobile app to facilitate the creation of compatible rope teams or to find and contact climbing and mountaineering partners. 

The sponsors of the grant are: Urretxu Town Council (€3,000), WOP-The Walk On Project foundation (€2,000) and Mendi Film (€2,000), alongside the Basque Mountaineering Federation, which is contributing €2,000’s worth of equipment. 

As part of the Xabier Ormazabal Festa festival, Ibon Mendia received the grant from the organiser Andoni Ormazabal, EMF-FVM board member Javi Antunez, and the director of Mendi Film, Jabi Baraiazarra. 

  

Xabier Ormazabal  

Xabier Ormazabal (Urretxu 1981–Cho Oyu 2004) completed the Snow Leopard Challenge by climbing the seven-thousanders Communism Peak, Khan Tengri, Pobeda, Lenin Peak and Korzhenevskaya. He then set off for the Himalayas. He passed away on Mount Cho Oyu in October 2004. And it is in his honour, that this festival is organised in Urretxu; its ninth edition took place on the weekend of 22 and 23 May 2026. 

The grant was established as part of this festival with the aim of keeping his memory alive, promoting his career as an exemplary mountaineer and supporting young climbers. Various projects have been submitted: major expeditions, guidebooks, books and audio-visual material.  

These are the projects that have been awarded the Xabier Ormazabal Grant, to date: 

  • 2018: Iker Madoz “Pausoz Pauso Gasherbrum 4” 
  • 2020: Ander Zabalza “Virgin walls in latitudes close to the Arctic” 
  • 2022: Maialen Rojo “Exploring the Alps” 
  • 2024: Ainhoa Unanue “Mountain biking in Alaska” 
  • 2026: Ibon Mendia “Traverse of Cerro Torre” and “App Onbelay”