Karl Egloff of Ecuador, climbing without supplementary oxygen, turned around shortly before Camp 3. According to his home team, he is okay and descending to Base Camp.
“Conditions were not suitable for a no-O2 ascent,” Egloff’s wife told ExplorersWeb. “He followed his instinct and experience to go down when necessary.”
She explained that Egloff had a bad feeling and decided to listen to it and retreat. He informed his team in Base Camp that he had already passed Camp 2 on the way down. Egloff is continuing all the way back to Base Camp. He wants to avoid being in the Khumbu Icefall during the warm day, when it is more unstable.
The Ecuadorian had hoped to set a Fastest Known Time on Everest from Base Camp to the summit and back to Base Camp.
One runner left
Tyler Andrews of the U.S. abruptly changed his plans shortly before starting, but the conservative decision may have given him a chance to come away with a partial success.
Like Egloff, he had originally planned to do without bottled oxygen, but today, he decided otherwise. Andrews started using oxygen at Camp 2 and is carrying on, despite high winds.
There is no recent news from Andrews, as his tracker’s signal froze when the climber was nearly at 7,500m, midway between Camp 3 and Camp 4.
Tyler Andrews’ progress can be tracked here. Egloff’s tracker is here.
Tyler Andrews’ location on Everest, shortly before 3 am Nepal time. Map: InReach
