It’s a cold winter morning in the Cajon del Maipo Valley, and Cecilia Buil and her partner, Anna Toretta, are on their way to do what will be the first ascent of the ice climb, La Gioconda, on Cerro Marmolejo (20,039’). The sun rises, the sky turns from orange to blue, and the only noise they hear is the sliding of their skis over the snow. Buil remembers this moment perfectly, along with dozens of other adventurous experiences. They drive her to put up new routes on rock, snow and ice in the wildest high places in the world, and they inspire her to always give everything she’s got. “If I go climbing, the summit is not the only thing that makes me feel good; it’s the experience, to have made a big effort and then to feel empty afterwards,” she says. “The same applies to the rest of my life—to be in the moment and to live everything deeply.”
