Kristin Harila’s home team has confirmed that the Norwegian has summited Cho Oyu, just two days after reaching Base Camp. Cho Oyu was the last peak on Harila’s 14×8,000m list. She summited the other 12 8,000m peaks, located in Nepal and Pakistan, last year.
The news is surprising because Viridiana Alvarez’s tracker (the only source of live information we have from the mountain) did not move today. Alvarez, a member of Harila’s team, remained in Camp 1 at 6,400m. Alvarez moved to Camp 1 from Base Camp yesterday, despite a swollen ankle that she twisted on Shishapangma last week.
Viridiana Alvarez’s tracker locates her at Camp 1 today.
In a message congratulating Harila over InReach, Alvarez wrote: “I wish my ankle could have let me make that long push, to be together on the summit.”
It is unclear what Alvarez plans to do next. She might descend with Harila’s team or she could wait till her ankle improves and attempt the summit in the next few days.
Kristin Harila’s tracker is now public and shows her route to the summit and back toward Camp 1.
Kristin Harila’s tracker. Camp 1 is the red dot on the left.
Harila’s home team mentioned that Tenjen “Lama” Sherpa, and Ngima Rita Sherpa summited with her. Harila reached the top at 12:30 Nepal time (14:45 China time), according to Climbalaya.
We don’t know whether climbers used oxygen or what the conditions were like on the mountain. Harila’s team told ExplorersWeb that they only made brief contact over satellite phone with Harila. We’ll update as information comes in.
