As the Sherpa team fixed the last meters of rope to the 8,849m summit of Everest today, the Khumbu Icefall and the Lhotse Face became increasingly busy. The first wave of climbers is on its way up. At least one of them will be running past them without bottled oxygen and in running shoes.
American Tyler Andrews, 35, sets off tomorrow to attempt an FKT (Fastest Known Time) up Everest. Andrews considers this the climax of his career. He believes he can summit from Base Camp within a day.
As he told ExplorersWeb in an in-depth interview, the finish line for his challenge will be the summit rather than Base Camp after a round trip. He intends to take it easy on the way down but has not said whether he intends to resort to oxygen at that point. Andrews has supplies and support staff in the higher camps for that descent.
The record that Andrew aims to beat was set in back 1998 by Kazi Sherpa, who climbed from Base Camp to the summit in 20 hours and 24 minutes without supplemental oxygen.
“His record is disputed because Kazi Sherpa used oxygen on the way down,” Andrews said. “But for me, that is not significant, as the record is from Base Camp to summit, not for the return.”
Another FKT attempt
Remarkably, Andrews is not the only athlete trying to set a speed record on the South Side of Everest this season. Earlier this week, Karl Egloff of Ecuador completed a tough acclimatization round in which he reached 7,800m without oxygen on a three-day ascent. However, he has noted that he will only try to summit in about two weeks.
Unlike Andrews, the Ecuadorian plans a return trip from Base Camp to the summit and back down again. He will also go without supplemental oxygen. Before leaving for Nepal, he told ExplorersWeb that his regular climbing partner, Nico Miranda, will accompany him. Two years ago, Egloff and Miranda achieved an FKT on Makalu together. This time, however, Miranda will use oxygen, so he can better assist his friend on his record push.
Wingsuit preparation
Other “different” climbs on Everest are in the works but will not take place in the next few days. Wingsuit pilot Tim Howell and his guide Jon Gupta have completed their final acclimatization trip to Camp 3. Howell wants to wingsuit off the world’s highest exit point. In an unsuccessful first attempt last year, he determined that that was off a ridge at around 8,300m on Lhotse.
“After a few days’ rest, an advance team will head up to establish a new ‘Camp 3.5’ and prep the route to the exit point,” Howell’s home team reported yesterday.
No-O2 Babanov sleeps at Camp 4
At age 60, Valery Babanov of Russia is not interested in an FKT but remains one of the few who will attempt Everest without oxygen. The past Piolet d’Or winner is following a traditional approach, with several rotations and many nights at altitude. Last week, he was the first international climber this year to reach Camp 3. This week, he spent a night in Camp 4 (7,950m) with his assistant Sherpa Ming Temba. Babanov is now in Base Camp and will rest for five to seven days before his final summit push.
Marcin Miotk of Poland, who had hoped to attempt Lhotse without supplementary oxygen, has called off his expedition because of a respiratory illness.
