It’s already dark on Everest, but Tyler Andrews is still descending. He intends to reach Base Camp tonight after retreating just shy of the summit on his no-oxygen speed record attempt.
At the time of posting this story, he was nearing Camp 2. Details about why he turned around above 8,400m will have to wait until Andrews and his team make it safely down and get some rest.
Climbers are being advised to abandon the mountain as soon as possible, as the Khumbu Icefall is deteriorating and has become increasingly dangerous. Most will try to cross it tonight, during the coldest hours.
Meanwhile, Andrews’ progress down can be tracked live here.
No-O2 female ascent
Anja Blancha of Germany summited without bottled oxygen today, according to outfitter Pioneer Adventure. She was part of the team that left Camp 4 yesterday, but there are no further details on Pioneer Adventures’ or the climber’s website.
Blacha keeps a low profile but has an impressive resumé. She had previously summited Everest from both sides, but with supplementary oxygen. Now, Everest has become her 12th 8,000’er without bottled O2. She has only Lhotse and Shishapangma to go to become the third woman ever to climb all 14 without bottled oxygen, after Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner of Austria and Nives Meroi of Italy.
Blacha has stepped up the pace and notched several 8,000’ers in the last two years. In 2024, she summited Makalu, Kangchenjunga, Manaslu, and Cho Oyu. This spring, she did Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, and now Everest. However, she said nothing about her planned no-O2 climb on social media.
