As we enter a new year, we thought of doing an interview on mountains and mountaineering while drinking our hot teas and coffees in our warm homes.
Actually, I don’t look for stories, they come to me. Again, while having lunch during a working break, my friend next to me was telling Tuba Nurse, who was sitting across from me, that she was excited as if she was going up the mountain while looking at mountain pictures on instagram. This is how I met Tuba. Tuba Nurse was a mountaineer. This immediately put her on my radar. We met within five minutes and I offered her an interview. We are nurses and we have to decide everything very quickly. By the way, we work at Mehmet Akif Ersoy Chest Cardiovascular Hospital. I would like to send greetings to all our colleagues there, because they all need this. Really, every single employee in the hospital has been making superhuman efforts lately. Both the high workload in Istanbul and the high number of people fleeing from Istanbul with transfers tire us a lot. According to what I have heard, this is the case in other hospitals as well. We hope that the health system in Istanbul will be supported both economically and in terms of personnel as soon as possible. These are our expectations from 2023 as health professionals…
We would like to leave all this chaos and problems for a while and turn to Tuba Güler, who is interested in mountaineering.
Hello Tuba, we would like to get to know you first…
I was born in 1988 in Turhal/Tokat. After attending primary and high school here, I studied at KTU Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing. I am doing my dream job.
How did you get interested in the mountain?
I first became interested in sports. My connection with sports started when I came first in a running race in elementary school, running with nylon shoes I brought with me. In my high school years, I added volleyball and folklore training to running.
I first met mountaineering when I was 16 years old, in my first year at university. I was very surprised that there was such a sport. I knew about mountains and plateaus, but I didn’t know that they had a sport.
Were there people who guided you in mountaineering?
First of all, my father, Sami Güler, was a person who loved camping and nature trips. He introduced me to mountaineering, which has been a part of my life, at the age of 9. I made my first camp in the garden of our house and my first train journey at that age.
Dr. Hakan Güvenç, with whom I crossed paths during my university years, was involved in mountaineering. He encouraged me because of my interest in mountaineering. He told me that I was suitable for this sport and that I should do it.
Unfortunately, while I was thinking about what he said, he was killed in a mountain accident while climbing the God Mountains in Kyrgyzstan in 2004. This grave event was of course much more frightening for me at that age. By the way, let us commemorate both Hakan Güvenç and all those who have lost their lives in the mountains until now.
Now my thoughts are very different.
Dying in the mountains is a more difficult prospect than dying in the city…
Then the university ended and I started working in Istanbul. Dr. Can Yüksel, who I worked with as a dialysis nurse, was a mountaineer and the founder of a mountain club. He made me an offer for mountaineering training. I was supposed to train in Bursa for a month on weekends. But since it was impossible to take a break from my job and go on weekends at that time, I parted ways with mountaineering once again.
So how did your paths reunite with mountaineering?
Years passed and 2019 came. I heard that the National Medical Rescue Team (UMKE) would train paramedic mountaineers and that they would select 50 people. I thought I would be advantageous because I was UMKE personnel and a licensed athlete, but I was not selected. Then they took me instead of a person who left, and 50 of us started training. We received summer mountaineering training and during the winter mountaineering training, I left the group. I decided to make my own way. Now I am the only one among 50 people who continues mountaineering.
When the pandemic days started, life stopped for 2 years, but I did not give up my dream in this process. I invested all the money and time I earned in the last two years in improving myself in mountaineering.
I have been traveling around the country since I was 9 years old. Sometimes I travel 2000 km for a photo frame. Nothing is as beautiful as the thoughts that pass through my mind while walking on the mountain, on the way to the summit…
What do you do to be a good mountaineer?
I’m constantly training for improvement and I support my training with hiking, good nutrition, swimming and pilates.
What do you think is the most important rule of being a mountaineer?
It is necessary to act in accordance with mountain and mountain ethics. Respecting nature and the mountain… Then the mountain gives you what you expect unconditionally.
What are the mountains you have climbed so far?
I went mountain climbing 19 times. I made 15 successful summit climbs, 4 of which were canceled due to weather conditions.
My Project Realized Activities:
-Dedegöl Mountain Isparta Summer Climb (1)
-Mount Nemrut Bitlis Summer Climb (1)
-Mount Süphan Summer Climb (1)
-Kemerli Kaçkar Mountain Summer Climb (1)
-Verçenik Mountain Summer Climb (1)
-Mount Agri Summer Climb (1)
-Mount Light Winter Climb (1)
-Mount Hasan Winter Climb (2)
-Erciyes Mountain Winter Climb (1)
-Güzeller Mountain Summer Climb (1)
-Great Demirkazık Mountain Summer Climb (1)
-Mount Emler Summer Climb (1)
-Mount Karasay Summer Climb (1)
-Eznevit Mountain Summer Climb (1)
Project Activities:
– Mount Ararat Winter Climbing
– Finger Rock Climbing( Aladağlar/ Niğde)
-Climbing Mount Kizilkaya (Aladağlar/ Niğde)
-Small Iron Pile Mountain Climb (Aladağlar/Niğde)
-Great Iron Pile Mountain Climbing (Aladağlar/ Niğde)
You must have jumped into danger on these trips. What was the biggest danger? Did this danger make you think about giving up mountaineering?
I recently fell while climbing and fractured my leg bone. But I didn’t give up and I am counting the days to climb again.
Are there similarities between nursing and mountaineering?
There definitely are. Being cold-blooded is the most common thing. I owe it to my profession to be extremely resistant to insomnia, fatigue and hunger. To be honest, mountaineering is easier next to my profession.
What are your tips for working as a nurse and making time for mountaineering? How do you plan your life?
I spend the time left over from my profession on the mountain, on the road and in camp. I get the same pleasure that people get by lying on the couch in front of the TV. The mental rest makes me forget the professional fatigue and motivates me towards life.
What kind of preparation is needed for climbing?
Everything needs to be planned. Clothing, transportation, food, equipment… Most importantly, you should be mentally ready.
What is the most memorable place you have climbed so far? How did you feel?
I still watch my first climb at 6 degrees on the Count Dracula (Ballıkayalar/Gebze) route and the excitement I felt at that moment on the video. It was the same as the excitement of a mother and father seeing their child’s first step.
I will never forget finding myself in the sea of clouds at the summit of Verçenik Mountain (Çamlıhemşin/Rize) with a leg I could not bend. It was like a transition to a spiritual world…
Do you think there are mountaineering rules? What would you say based on your experiences so far?
There are for sure… To plan everything by calculating the contrary situations. Thinking not only about yourself but also about your partner and the team. Never move if there is no stove. If the stove goes out on the mountain, life goes out. To help if help is needed, even if it prevents reaching the summit. Or you need to know how to turn back.
What would you like to say to those who are interested in mountaineering but cannot take a step?
Just one step, I would say. You don’t know the beauty of the mountain until you try… If you want to watch the sunrise on a mountain, you have to take that step. You will never regret it and you will never give up again.
Do you have plans abroad in mountaineering?
Of course I do. Some of them are
Mount Kazbek (Georgia) Altitude: 5054m
Mont Blanc (Italy – France border) Alt: 4809m
Alam-Kuh Mountain (Iran) Alt: 4850m
By the way, it is very, very difficult for someone like me who is trying to make a living as a nurse. As you know, the economic crisis and the exchange rate unfortunately affect our dreams and plans. I am open to sponsors who want to support me.
What are your dreams in mountaineering? Which summit will you realize your dream if you climb?
My dream in mountaineering has never been the summit. I like the roads leading to the summit the most… What I think while walking that road…
There is no end to my dreams… I want to live every mountain, every rock over and over again…
