Tyler Andrews of the U.S. will start his attempt to make the fastest-ever no-oxygen ascent of Everest tomorrow evening.
Andrews will leave Base Camp at 7 pm Nepal time on Tuesday. He will climb through the night in order to summit on Wednesday morning. His primary goal is to beat the current no-oxygen record of 20m hours and 24 minutes, established by Kaji Sherpa in 1998.
A possible round trip
However, if all goes well, Andrews will not slow down at the summit. Instead, he will also try to complete the round-trip Everest FKT by continuing down without supplementary oxygen to Base Camp.
Until 2025, no specific attempt had been made to make the fastest round trip on Everest without bottled oxygen. Climbing the highest peak in the world without oxygen and making it down safely is considered a big enough challenge.
Last spring, Andrews considered several options and finally launched three attempts to do the Base Camp-to-summit FKT. Karl Egloff of Ecuador was also on the mountain and attempted the round trip without oxygen, but the hard conditions pushed him back shortly before Camp 3.
‘Solo, unsupported’
Andrews says he will climb without O2 and “solo and unsupported.” However, some fixed ropes are already along the route, and although it is unclear how much of the mountain they cover, we have previously noted how it is difficult to claim an unsupported climb of a prepared 8,000m peak.
The U.S. runner has not yet set foot at Everest Base Camp (5,350m). Instead, he has been running up and down in the Khumbu Valley and staying at lodges. Yesterday, he received blessings from the lamas at Tengboche monastery.
His regular running and climbing partner, Chris Fisher, flew from Kathmandu and joined Andrews at Tengboche so that they could trek to Base Camp together today. Fisher will be in charge of communications while Andrews attempts his speed ascent. His progress can be tracked live here.
Ski attempt too?
We also expect to hear news soon from Polish skier Andrzej Bargiel. Yesterday, Bargiel posted he was taking a “short break to check the weather,” but there is no confirmed timetable for his next move up Everest, or whether he feels ready to summit and ski back down to Base Camp. Bargiel is also climbing and skiing without oxygen or personal Sherpa support.
None of his team has a permit to summit Everest, which suggests that he will go to the top alone. He will, however, have a film crew along the mountain, including his brother Bartek, who will operate a drone as he did in 2018 on K2.
