“It’s official: I’m heading back to Mount Everest this October to attempt the speed record without supplemental oxygen,” Tyler Andrews told ExplorersWeb.
Climbing Everest in the fall is an even bigger challenge than in the crowded, tamed spring. But Andrews has a plan.
The American trail runner is flying to Nepal in mid-September and will attempt the summit in the first week of October. He is passing up the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB), the world’s most famous mountain trail run, to reengage with Everest.
The American ultrarunner told ExplorersWeb that the challenge appeals to him because, while it’s hard, he believes it is possible.
Tyler Andrews on Everest last spring. Photo: Tyler Andrews
Andrews will attempt the climb without a personal Sherpa support but will use fixed ropes up the Nepali side of Everest.
Three past attempts
Last spring, Andrews made three attempts to speed climb Everest. The first failed due to a gear malfunction, and the second — with supplementary oxygen — was aborted by the expedition outfitter for safety reasons due to bad conditions. On his third, last-minute try, he turned around shortly after Camp 4.
At the time, he was not the only climber pursuing a speed attempt. Karl Egloff of Ecuador was aiming to do a round trip to the summit and back to Base Camp without supplementary oxygen. Egloff withdrew after a single attempt in extreme cold, turning back somewhere below Camp 3.
Tyler Andrews and Chris Fisher leave Everest Base Camp on Andrews’ first FKT attempt. Photo: Tyler Andrews/Instagram
“After failing to break the record on three attempts in the spring season, there was about a 12-hour window where I thought, ‘I never want to be here again,’ ” he said. “But once I got back to Kathmandu, took a shower, and had a good night’s sleep, the feeling flipped completely. I walked away confident that this record is within my wheelhouse — I just need everything to align properly.
“If the gear failure hadn’t happened on the first attempt and if the weather hadn’t been a problem on the next attempt and if I had been less tired on the third attempt, then on one of those, it definitely goes,” he added.
Mystery team
Andrews would not be able to bear the entire cost of a fall climb alone, but another team is planning a fall Everest climb.
“Instead of the 1,000+ people on the mountain during spring, there will be about a dozen people total in the fall,” he said. “This means no traffic jams and the ability to pick optimal weather windows without competing for summit slots.”
Andrews does not know who the other climbers are, except that Seven Summit Treks is outfitting them. Asian Trekking will have two commercial clients as well.
Drone image of a quiet Everest Base Camp in the fall, during the attempt by Andrzej Bargiel to ski down the mountain some years ago. Photo: Bartek Bargiel
Simpler approach
For logistics, Andrews has bet on simplicity.
“This time, the team will be just me and Dawa Steven coordinating logistics,” Andrews explained. “I’ll climb solo with one person stationed at Camp 4 (8,000m) for emergency support.”
This way, he says he will reduce points of failure and be more self-sufficient, even if it means carrying more gear as he goes.
Dawa Steven Sherpa and Tyler Andrews two years ago. Photo: Asian Trekking
In autumn, Everest presents different challenges than in spring. There’s typically more snow from the summer monsoon. This can increase avalanche risk, but it also fills in crevasses and creates more direct routes through the Khumbu Icefall.
“There are generally fewer stable weather windows, but with only 15 people on the entire mountain, we can be much more selective about timing,” Andrews said.
The record to break
Andrews intends to break the current no-oxygen record of 20 hours and 24 minutes from Base Camp to summit, set in 1998 by Kazi Sherpa.
“For context, the fastest time ever recorded with supplemental oxygen is 10 hours and 56 minutes — highlighting just how much of a difference that bottled oxygen makes at extreme altitude,” Andrews noted in a press release.
Kazi Sherpa used oxygen for the descent. Andrews says he will not use oxygen on the way down unless there’s a safety issue, but his primary focus is BC-summit. “I focus more on the uphill because that is historically what the records have been on 8,000’ers,” he explained.
Tyler Andrews in Kathmandu at Asian Trekking’s headquarters, with Kazi Sherpa and Marc Batard, previous Everest speed-record holders.
