Alpinist, internationally recognised expert on big walls with leading activities in Patagonia and Baltoro, discoverer of little-known places. He was born on 21 February 1969 in Bergara (Gipuzkoa). While he is attracted to the big walls of the planet, he rejects the normal routes and the ‘commercial’ mountains. Among his ascents are the openings on Trango, Paine, Naranjo, etc. Routes in the Alps, Patagonia, Karakorum, attempts on G-IV, a monolith of rock and ice rising to 7,925 metres in the heart of Karakorum.
He started climbing at a very young age on Atxarte, Anboto, etc. In 1987 he climbed Zodiac in El Capitan, The nose, Horse chute, etc. In 1988 with José Carlos Tamayo he ed New dawn, Tangerine trip and New Jersey turnpike, also in El Capitán. On his 1988 visit to Patagonia with Guillermo Bañales from Biscay, he climbed the Aguja Poincenot. In July 1989, with Javier Mugarra, also from Bizkaia, he reached a virgin peak which they christened Violeta Peak, on the Choktoy glacier, and opened ‘Gizon berri bat naiz’ with Ramón Portilla on the west side of the Naranjo.
In 1990, with Portilla and Tamayo, he achieved the first national winter national on the North of the Dru. In addition, for the programme ‘Al filo de lo imposible’ on Televisión Española, together with others, he opened Banana mango mix on the Gran Torre del Trango up to a few metres from the summit.
In 1991, in the Central Tower of Paine, he signed two routes: ‘Kanterarik ez’, with Kike de Pablo, and ‘La ballena de los vientos’, with Tamayo and other companions. He then climbed the Andrea Oggioni of the Torre Sur del Paine with Tamayo and, later, with De la Cruz, he climbed the south face of the Aguja Saint Éxupéry. Also in 1991, with José María Codina, he climbed the Cecchinel-Nominé to the Grand Pilier d'Angle up to Mont Blanc. In Chamonix, the Anouk to the Petites Jorasses and the Pilar Bonatti to the Dru. With Tamayo, in the Chamonix massif, he also achieved the Walker to the Grandes Jorasses and, in the Dolomites, the Carlesso to the Torre Trieste, the Brandler-Hasse to the north of the Cima Grande, the Cassin to the Cima Ovest, Tempi moderni to the Marmolada, etc.
In 1992 an illness forced him to give up Dhaulagiri. In 1993, climbing in the AK-Su (White Water) valley of the Pamir, with the Biscayan Bañales and Mugarra, he ed the Directísima of Peak 3,850, the south face of Peak 4,810 and the Directísima from Leningrad to the Russian Tower; being rewarded for this activity with the Piolet de Oro prize.
Jon Lazkano collaborated with the Iñurrategi brothers from the beginning of the E.T.B. (Basque public television) project before Felix's death. He took part in the expeditions in which Alberto Iñurrategi climbed Hidden Peak 2001 and in the expedition to Annapurna 2002, where Alberto completed the fourteen eight-thousanders. Lazkano, nicknamed ‘Mister Jon’ in Pakistan, has made uninterrupted trips to this mountaineering paradise.
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