Today, at around 8,500m, Tyler Andrews gave up his attempt to make the fastest-ever climb on Everest.
Andrews left Base Camp yesterday around 8 pm local time, hoping to set the FKT on Everest without supplemental oxygen. In previous statements, he said he also intended to attempt the return trip record. In the end, none of the goals were fulfilled.
File image of Tyler Andrews on Everest last year. Photo: Chris Fisher
Strange change of plans
Surprisingly, at some point of the climb, he started using bottled gas. His team posted a previously recorded video on his social media, in which Andrews said he had planned this option in case of bad weather.
In the video, he said he would then try to break Everest’s O2-assisted FKT, set by Lakpa Gelu in 2003 at 10 hours, 56 minutes.
Andrews continued up to Camp 4 and beyond. However, he turned around near the Balcony for unstated reasons. (They will be provided later on, his team reported.) However, by that point, it was clear that Andrews would not break Lakpa Gelu’s record.
Andrews says he will attempt a new ascent without oxygen in a few days.
Karl Egloff of Ecuador, also aiming for an Everest FKT, has not shared plans about when he will start his own speed climb. Egloff is not considering using oxygen at any point and aims to complete the round-trip record from Base Camp to the summit and back.
No-O2 climbers
Sabrina Filzmoser of Austria, who was attempting to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen today, turned around at 7,860m, according to her tracker. She is currently back at Camp 2.
Saulius Damulevicius of Lithuania, with the same goal, is on his third day in Camp 3, enduring some rough conditions that have forced him to postpone his final push.
“The wind kept me awake all night, so climbing to Camp 4 would have been a waste of energy, as it will still be too windy on May 25,” he wrote on his Garmin tracking device today. Damulevicius will climb to Camp 4 tomorrow and try to summit on May 26.
Saulius Damulevicius on Everest some days ago. Photo: Saulius Damulevicius
