In a sudden change of plan, American runner Tyler Andrews started his Everest Fastest Known Time (FKT) attempt early. Andrews was scheduled to begin on Tuesday night but instead left Base Camp shortly after 8 pm Nepal time on Monday. He ran through the night up the lower half of the mountain until increasing winds eventually turned him around at 7,400m.
Andrews moved to Everest Base Camp from Pangboche yesterday morning, already acclimatized. He had hoped to start Tuesday evening and summit on Wednesday morning. However, a few hours later, he published the following Instagram story:
A Tyler Andrews story posted at 7:45 pm Nepal time.
He then posted a video while he stuffed clothes into a backpack. “We are getting ready to go 24 hours early, but we got clearance on the route and we’ve got great weather,” he said.
The weather is expected to be good for several days, and it is not clear what “clearance on the route” means. In a previous statement, Andrews had said it would be a “solo, unsupported” attempt.
Andrzej Bargiel of Poland, also on Everest and planning a ski descent, reached the South Col last week. There are no reports about the state of the ropes.
Progress
Andrews’ Base Camp team reported that he departed Base Camp at “roughly” 8 pm. His tracker shows his departure time as 8:17 pm Nepal time. As with his previous attempt last spring, Andrews ran quickly across the Khumbu Icefall, reaching Camp 3 in less than three hours. He checked in from 6,300m: “One hour away from the bergschrund at the base of the Lhotse face.”
The Everest route this season goes directly to Camp 4, and it was at the face that things started going wrong, as Andrews’ team notes reveal.
Live updates by Andrews’ team on Instagram stories.
At 6,700m, the team reported a “potential wind slap [sic],” meaning a wind slab that, as the team later explained, “was breaking off a bit.” Later, Andrews’ tracker was moving up again, surpassing 7,000m, the usual altitude for Camp 3.
Two hours later, at around 5:45 am in Nepal, Andrews’ friend Chris Fisher (in charge of team communications in Base Camp) posted another Instagram story about Andrews’ decision to retreat.
Instagram story by Chris Fisher explaining that Tyler Andrews aborted his FKT attempt on Everest.
We will have further details when Andrews makes it back to Base Camp. This was Tyler’s fourth attempt at Everest’s FKT in five months.
