Karl Egloff of Ecuador and Tyler Andrews of the U.S. are both independently attempting the fastest ascent of Everest tonight, but nothing is going as planned. Egloff, who has just left Base Camp, had hoped to climb later in the month, but an unexpectedly premature end to the season has forced his hand. Meanwhile, Andrews has just announced he will use supplementary oxygen on the upper sections of the mountain to cope with the high winds.
After performing a brief puja ceremony, Karl Egloff set off at 6 pm, exactly as planned. He is using no bottled oxygen and aims not just for the FKT to the summit, but also on the return trip back to Base Camp.
You can track his climb live here.
Egloff’s farewell before departure. Photo: Instagram
Exactly at the time that Egloff set off, Tyler Andrews released an urgent update. In a video recorded in Everest Base Camp, he explained that he will set off at midnight as planned, but the latest forecasts confirm that summit winds will be high. For that reason, his team and the expedition leader (Dawa Steven Sherpa of Asian Trekking) have convinced him to use supplementary oxygen on the upper part of the mountain for safety reasons. Here’s the video:
Through the season, the runners have carefully avoided mentioning each other and refuse to admit there is any kind of competition. However, because of circumstances, both will attempt the same Everest record around the same time. Also, with Andrews’ announcement, the style of their climbs has changed, and the Ecuadorian — still going totally without bottled oxygen — will face much higher risks.
You can track Tyler Andrews’ climb here.
