“Looking forward to being back on thin air terrain,” Kilian Jornet writes from the Khumbu. The Spanish ultra-trail and ski-mountaineering champion has returned to the Himalaya to show his prowess as an alpinist. He confirms that he will climb with David Goettler, as ExplorersWeb revealed earlier this week.
Whatever Kilian Jornet does on Everest, it will be fast. Photo: Kilian Jornet
“When David Goettler texted me last year, we didn’t need many words to plan a climb together,” Jornet said. “A simple idea and a high possibility of failure summarize perfectly what we’re searching for over the next weeks in the Khumbu.”
Although he did not confirm the duo’s plan, sources told ExplorersWeb that they are aiming for Everest’s West Ridge. It is likely that even the climbers don’t know themselves whether they will follow the entire West Ridge or deviate to the Tibetan side of Everest and proceed up the Hornbein Couloir.
Not do we know whether after summiting Everest, they intend to proceed to Lhotse and if so, by which route.
David Goettler, meanwhile, is back in the valley after an extremely fast acclimatization round up Everest’s normal route. He reached 6,800m between Camp 2 and Camp 3, then ran back down, bypassed a COVID-stricken Base Camp, and continued to Pheriche.
Whatever the pair decide to do, it will be fast, pure, and definitely worth watching.
David Goettler on the Lhotse Wall two days ago. Photo: David Goettler
