While high winds delay the work of the Icefall Doctors, Everest climbers are approaching Base Camp. Two Americans planning a no-oxygen climb are among the first foreigners to arrive.
As of April 5, 73 permits were issued to international climbers for Everest. This year, more climbers seem to be trying to increase the challenge, either by going without oxygen or by starting from sea level.
Fixing work delayed
Bad weather has engulfed the upper Khumbu, and high jet stream winds are expected to hit the upper side of the mountain.
Ice Doctors are working when possible, but the snowfall over the last few days has delayed them. Forecasts show precipitation will continue through Thursday. Then clear skies will return, but high winds will continue around summit altitude. Still, conditions might be good enough to permit route fixing between 5,500 and 6,200m. That would also let them set up Camps 1 and 2.
The 2026 Icefall Doctors team. Photo: Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee.
The first climbers are approaching Base Camp. Those who acclimatized on a trekking peak may fly in by helicopter, but others are happy trekking from Lukla. For most, it would be a pity to miss the sights of the Khumbu Valley. Some may stop en route and acclimatize on trekking mountains like Lobuche East or Island Peak.
No-O2 Americans
Those attempting a no-O2 climb will need more acclimatization, and two of these are already in Base Camp. Americans Ryan Mitchell and guide Justin Sackett did their first acclimatization by summiting Lobuche East last week. They are now temporarily chilling in Base Camp, watching the giant tent city grow around them.
Mitchell, a YouTuber known for his Minecraft videos, only started mountaineering in 2023. One year and five months later, he summited Everest with Madison Mountaineering. He went to K2 last year, but, like many other teams, he didn’t try to summit because of dangerous conditions on the mountain. In November, Mitchell and Sackett climbed Ama Dablam. Mitchell now intends to climb Everest and K2 without oxygen this year.
His guide, Justin Sackett, will also climb without supplemental oxygen, but they will be accompanied by a Sherpa who will carry some O2 for emergencies. The climbers spent two nights at Pumori high camp last weekend, before the weather turned bad.
Harila’s new plan
Kristin Harila is also on her way to Base Camp. The Norwegian holds the record for the fastest 14×8,000’ers. In 2023, she and her guides climbed all 14 in 92 days, smashing Nirmal Purja’s previous time. Harila now has a new plan: She hopes to climb Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse, sometimes called the Triple Crown, without oxygen.
The first Seven Summit Treks group, which includes Kristin Harila, is reportedly trying Everest without oxygen. Photo: Seven Summit Treks
Sea to summit on a folding bike?
Lucas Extreme of Poland — that’s what he calls himself online, and we have not discovered his real name — hopes to do Everest in a minimalistic way.
Lucas began cycling from the Bay of Bengal on March 23 and is on his way to Everest, where he hopes to climb the mountain without supplemental oxygen.
Further details make the expedition even more singular. He will climb on his own, with no Sherpa support or partners, without even using Base Camp. Instead, he’ll lodge at Gorak Shep, the last village before Base Camp.
“This will probably be the cheapest Everest expedition of the season,” he claims.
He has no return ticket to Poland, but plans to get the necessary funds by selling his used gear in Kathmandu on the way back from the mountain, as he did after climbing lower peaks in 2024. He estimates $19,000 for the whole expedition. The permit itself is $15,000, plus $3,000 for a local operator to arrange his permit and carry his gear to Base Camp, and some further necessary expenses like a Liaison Officer and a fee for using the fixed ropes.
Nostalgia
Still, the best bit is his means of transportation. Lucas is pedaling a folding bicycle, a vintage Polish model called the Wigry 3. According to Pinterest, the Wigry 3 is a “classic Polish folding bicycle popular in the 1970s and 1980s, often associated with childhood nostalgia and retro styling.” It’s almost certainly never been anywhere near Everest before.
Lukas Extreme’s Wigry 3 superimposed onto a background image of Everest Base Camp. Photo: Lukas Extreme Expedition
According to his website, he and his folding bicycle, with its plastic shopping basket attached to the rear, have already entered Nepal. His latest update reports that he was heading for Salleri, and then Lukla and the Khumbu Valley.
We present this news with an asterisk; we’re not sure how serious this guy is, although some Polish media have covered him, albeit with some skepticism. Outdoormagazyn.pl headlined its story An Ambitious or Crazy Polish Idea? Lacking his complete name, the magazine just calls him Wigry Lucas.
At least, he’s set up a crowdfunding site and is actually getting donations. According to his Instagram profile, Lucas climbed Lenin Peak in 2023 and Ama Dablam in 2024 (after Island Peak, Mera, and Lobuche East). Still, the plan lacks basic details about training, equipment, and experience.
The climber explained on Facebook that the challenge of the 8,000’ers is about altitude, and if he finds out he can’t climb without oxygen, that will mean that he needs to climb lower mountains. Time will tell, but this sounds like a guy whose dreams of turning the clock on Everest back to a simpler time (maybe all the way back to the era of Maurice Wilson) will bump up against the reality of modern Everest, if and when he gets there.
