Jost Kobuch has started his climb on Everest at a remarkable pace. On his first foray, he passed the Lho La and is speeding up the West Ridge.
According to his tracker, the German climber reached 6,800m today and showed no intention to turn around yet. He is not far from both the West Shoulder, above the Western Cwm, and the second col, which lies right above Camp 2 on the normal route.
800 meters above schedule
According to his preliminary plans, Kobusch intended to fix some ropes on the mixed face leading to the Lho La (the col separating the west ridge of Everest and Khumbutse Peak) and pitch a Camp 1 there. As he explained in the Instagram video below, Kobusch prefers to access the Lho La on ice rather than by climbing on bare rock. He climbs the ice with no anchors. Once on top, he lays a rope down for rappelling and further climbs.
Other winter teams
The Winter Manaslu team of Simone Moro, Nima Rinji Sherpa, and Oswald Pereira has been acclimatizing on Ama Dablam since December 22. The Annapurna expedition has not started. Alex Txion returned to Spain before Christmas, and no one in the team has moved up from Base Camp yet.
