It is her look, full of determination and softness, which captivated me in the first few words I
exchanged with Ilina Arsova. A subtle mix of strength and serenity emanates from her and is a true invitation to
an encounter. Her voice, the terms she always chooses carefully reach this same kind of balance and the
exchange between us is about to be created in the most natural way. As a young mountaineer at the beginning
of her thirties but with already a solid experience behind her, Ilina grew up close to the mountains surrounding
Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, a small country in the heart of the Balkans. The proximity with the wilderness
started in her early childhood thanks to the open-minded education of her parents but also due to her thirst for
discoveries and strong sensations. The evolution towards the high mountains was not a direct path, she first fell
in love with extreme sports like skydiving, paragliding, climbing… Everything came gradually and smoothly.
2006. A decisive date. She summits her first 4000, the Mont-Blanc, with her partner of that time. A total
revelation, a deep inner upheaval. The narcosis of the altitude, the adrenaline of the ascent, the fascination for
the challenges of the high mountains drive her to push her limits even further. Other summits of the world will
serve in the years to come as the setting of her heavenly wanderings: the Matterhorn, the Aconcagua, the Ama
Dablam or the Everest last spring. The ascent of the Roof of the world or Chomolungma, its other name in
Tibetan, stands as a sheer accomplishment in her personal path. But Ilina Arsova has always regarded with a
deep sense of humility her relation to the mountain, the way she envisions each of her expeditions. In her eyes,
walking her way up to a summit is synonymous with an inner journey. It is never conquered but you are only
allowed to reach its top. I can feel a hint of sadness in her voice when she evokes some present logic of
consuming summits, the excessive number of climbers on mountains like Everest, the subsequent
environmental problems it raises for these areas and the local populations. In her opinion, each person must
deeply wonder why they want to undertake such an adventure. For it is both a physical and mental journey.
She enjoys those moments in the evening, alone in her tent, when she writes her diary and describes with a
great deal of details her impressions of the day. She also highly values her daily exchanges with the sherpas
for whom she has a deep sense of respect. She likes to take the pulse of the countries she visits, to draw in her
sketches scenes of local life. She admires the simple life led by the peoples of the Himalayas. For it is both as
an artist and as a mountaineer that Ilina strived to develop her skills these last few years. Her conception of an
ascent is like a confession she would make to herself, alone with the mountain, with her joys but also her
doubts and fears. Fear. A fundamental issue. The fear not to control everything, the anguish of death? Feeling
fear is a good thing in her eyes, it is even necessary for it keeps you grounded, it makes you more lucid about
what surrounds you in this supposedly hostile environment for man. Getting rid of fear can be dangerous and
make you forget that human scale is infinitely smaller than that of the mountains. Reaching a perfect mental
balance amounts to taming this ambivalence between fascination and fear. The high altitude, the adrenaline of
the summits have become over the years Ilina’s true passion. She loves feeling the effects of the lack of
oxygen on her body and mind even if she perfectly knows the dangers that go with it. The final push towards
summit which requires gigantic efforts above 8000 meters, in what is called ‘the death zone’. The rarefaction of
the oxygen which modifies perception, the departure in the cold of the night which makes the last part of the
ascent even more difficult and surreal… The conversation is about to end and I feel like I am emerging from a
dream after all these evocations of mountains and faraway countries. In this autumnal period which marks the
gradual transition towards winter, Ilina is at home in Macedonia, by the shores of Ohrid lake, one of the oldest
and deepest lakes in Europe. After having traveled extensively and lived in different countries, it is in this wild
area that she chose to make her base by founding Ikar Hut, a hostel functioning according to the principles of
ecotourism. She regards this place as a point of exchanges between mountaineers, artists, travelers…She
wishes to give back to her country everything she received this last decade. For after all, isn’t it what life is all
about, a flow of energy circulating evenly between people?
Vanessa Beucher for 7sky.life Magazine
