Saturday 15 – 19:30 Sala BBK
This year the WOP (The Walk on Project) prize is to be awarded to Juanjo San Sebastian, not only for his climbing career but also for his labour in many facets of life and society. This alpinist, who is much beloved and cherished in Euskadi, follows in the footsteps of Josep Manuel Anglada, Sir Chris Bonington and Peter Habeler, previous WOP award winners. The Walk On Project foundation, alongside Bilbao Mendi Film Festival, make a distinction that places the spotlight on the personal path walked by alpinists, who in their lifetimes have exemplified the overcoming of obstacles, courage, teamwork, commitment, authenticity and fellowship, among others.
Juanjo San Sebastián is probably one of the most esteemed alpinists in the Basque Country. Throughout his life he has been a specialist and cameraman on expeditions up in the mountain peaks, scriptwriter, a director of documentaries and technical director of one of the first mountain guide centre-workshops to be opened in Spain. As an employee of Kutxabank, he has worked in the publicity and corporate image departments too. But Juanjo’s life has been much more than all the aforementioned. He has found time to be heavily involved in social and trade union work, a keen txistu (Basque recorder) player and he has lived on K2 one of the most dramatic episodes of his life. Up there, amid the rocks and the snow, he was stripped of his rope mate and lost most of his fingers. Let’s get acquainted with the less known aspects of the life of Juanjo San Sebastián.
