Xavi ARIAS
Born in Barcelona, in 1970, Xavier Arias Sunyer, is a Catalan mountaineer.
He started hiking at a very young age with his grandfather, with whom he took long walks in the mountains. He soon joined the Sant Jordi d’Esplugues Scouts and Guides Group and began to climb mountains in the Pyrenees and the Alps.
He has climbed most 3,000ers in the Pyrenees. In the Alps he has climbed the Matterhorn through Italy-Switzerland, Mont Blanc (Kuffner ridge), Aresta Rochefort, Mont Maudit, Mont Rosa (Italy and Switzerland), Castor, the Lenzpitze (North Face), Dom de Mischabel, Gran Paradiso, Dôme de Neige des Ecrins, and Nadelhorn among others.
He has climbed on rock in the French Alps, Dolomites, Overland, Montserrat, Pyrenees, Pedraforca, Picos de Europa, Corsica, Riglos, Morocco, South Africa, etc. On ice, he has climbed in the Pyrenees, the Alps, and Norway, among other places.
From 1994, his mountain activity increasingly seeks more distant landmarks, in the Andes, the Caucasus and the Himalayas. He has reached the summit of Nun Kun, Pic Lenin, Kilimanjaro, Nevado Pisco, Huayna Potosí, Huascarán, Illimani, Nevado Condoriri, Damavand and on numerous occasions Island Peak, Mera Peak, Kilimanjaro, Elbrus and Aconcagua. In 2006 he summited Aconcagua in winter, climbing along the Argentinian route to the Polacos Glacier.
He has participated in a dozen expeditions to 8,000ers and has reached the summit on six occasions: Shisha Pangma Central, Dhaulagiri, Cho Oyu, Everest, Lhotse and Broad Peak.
He is the author, as a cameraman and producer, of several mountain reportages.