After more than 24 hours of silence, we have news about Karl Egloff and Nico Miranda of Ecuador. Meanwhile, Tyler Andrews left Everest Base Camp today at 7:11 pm Nepal Time on a second attempt to achieve the Fastest Known Time on Everest. This time, he will focus on an easier version: one way, with oxygen. He will not try to set a record time on the return trip.
Story on Tyler Andrews’ Instagram this morning.
Asked whether he will use oxygen from Base Camp, Andrews replied, “I will probably go to Camp 2 without gas again, as I think the supplemental oxygen is negative while in the Icefall, if you’re well acclimatized.”
Egloff retreats from South Col
Yesterday, climbers on the mountain confirmed that Egloff would attempt to summit Everest today on a no-O2, return-trip Everest FKT bid. No further news was forthcoming until journalist Alberto Astudillo reported that he had turned around at the South Col. Egloff himself confirmed this minutes later. Here is what happened:
Karl Egloff and Nico Miranda left Base Camp at 3.30 pm yesterday. “We crossed the Khumbu Icefall, passed Camps 1, 2, and 3, and climbed the Lhotse Face and Yellow Band,” Egloff wrote.
“After 13 hours on the move, we reached Camp 4 at the South Col. Although we may have been able to summit, we knew the descent would have been too risky due to fatigue, altitude sickness, and my partner not feeling well. We decided to return to Base Camp nonstop.”
In a text to the journalist, Egloff noted that both were very tired by the time they reached the South Col.
“Once there, Nico [Miranda] needed to go down, and I went down with him. It made no sense to continue to the top and back down without oxygen and totally on my own,” he wrote.
Egloff didn’t mention whether Miranda was using supplemental oxygen.
Karl Egloff, left, and Nico Miranda on Everest. Photo: Karl Egloff
Style controversy
Andrews sparked a debate after his previous FKT attempt. He had planned to go to the summit and back to Base Camp without oxygen, but unexpectedly switched to O2 halfway up. Ultimately, he turned around without summiting. He later confirmed to ExplorersWeb that, on the way down, he took a helicopter from Camp 2 to Base Camp due to an eye problem.
Tyller Andrews trains on a bike at Everest Base Camp earlier today. Photo: Andrews’ team
Karl Egloff had said several times that he would not use supplemental oxygen under any circumstances, and that he would consider only a speed round-trip from Base Camp to the summit and back.
Now the focus is again on Andrews, but he had better finish soon. The weather is unstable, teams are quickly dismantling the higher camps, and the route across the Khumbu Icefall will probably close on Friday.
