Yesterday, Carla Perez of Ecuador summited Makalu without supplementary O2. At her side were her partner Topo Mena, who also climbed no-O2, and Pemba Gelje Sherpa of Alpenglow. They all made it safely back to Base Camp today.
During her previous attempt this spring, bitter cold and the risk of frostbite forced Perez to make a tough decision: switch to bottled oxygen or retreat. She chose to go down.
Finally, on May 20, the three climbers set off again, despite uncertain weather. This time, they made it. It is also the second Makalu summit this spring for Topo Mena. Whether or not Pemba Gelje used O2 is unknown at this time.
One of the Alpenglow team approaches the summit of Makalu. Photo: Carla Perez
We are currently awaiting news about other climbers in the mountain. Adrianna Brownlee and Gelje Sherpa should be in Camp 4 or may already be heading for the summit during the Himalayan night. Brownlee’s tracker is currently off.
The 8K Expeditions group, including Kristin Harila and Purnima Shrestha, plan to summit on Friday. Shehroze Kashif’s tracker located him at 5,700m (Advanced Base Camp) today.
