Jost Kobush is speeding toward Everest Base Camp and acclimatizing on the way. Yesterday he checked in after summiting Island Peak (6,189m). This was his fourth acclimatization/training ascent in the last two months and great preparation for a fast push up a higher mountain. “The weather is fantastic, I feel fit and ready to go,” Kobusch wrote on social media.
Josh Kobusch’s InReach position as of December 19.
According to his live tracking device — which can be checked on his website — Kobusch will reach Base Camp at almost the moment when calendar winter starts. Then — could the German be ready to start up Everest immediately?
Kobusch intends to leave Base Camp (with a photographer taking some shots from the lower sections) and will continue alone as far as possible up the south side. No porters, no oxygen. That’s cheating, he insists. As he said in a recent interview with ExplorersWeb, he will “read the mountain” and then decide how to proceed.
Kobusch intends to climb Everest solo, no O2, in winter. Photo @terragraphy
Alex Txikon is also planning to lead a no-O2 team on winter Everest. But the Basque climber gets to Nepal the second week of January and plans to climb Ama Dablam first, so he is unlikely to arrive at Everest Base Camp before early February. Even if Txikon’s Sherpas reach the mountain early and start fixing the Khumbu Icefall, Kobusch will still have plenty of time for his pure solo attempt before anyone else sets foot on winter Everest.
UPDATE: As expected, Kobusch has arrived in Base Camp right at the beginning of calendar winter. Yesterday, he reported on windy but otherwise good conditions on the route up to 7,200m, roughly the bottom of the Lhotse face. “Conditions are better than expected,” he said. His position can be tracked live here.
Related story:
Jost Kobusch to Solo Everest in Winter
