Sirbaz Khan Summits a Crowded Everest Without O2

An endless flow of climbers joined the long line from Camp 4 to the summit last night. At least one man used no supplementary oxygen.

Sirbaz Khan of Pakistan climbed as he usually does: under the radar, collaborating with the Imagine Nepal sherpa team, and without bottled O2. The team included 14 international climbers, including Khan, 17 supporting sherpas, and two cameramen.

Everest marks Khan’s 11th no-O2 8,000’er, an unmatched score in Pakistan’s climbing history. Khan is also the second Pakistani to summit Everest without oxygen, after Sajid Sadpara last year.

Currently, the team is on its way back to Camp 4.

Record summit day?

Today could break a record for the most summits in 24 hours, considering the huge numbers between Camps 3 and 4 yesterday.

Moeses Fiamoncini of Brazil, who was at Camp 3 yesterday, reported a gigantic line of people with no gaps between climbers.

“I spoke to some climbers on their way back from the summit, and they said there were between 300 and 350 people in Camp 4,” he told Extremos.br. “They’ll probably try to reach the summit [today]!”

Today, many teams, including Climbing the Seven Summits, Summit Force, Seven Summit Treks, Asian Trekking, Arnold Coster, Furtenbach Adventures, Glacier Himalaya and Imagine Nepal, have announced successful summits.

Another no-O2 summit to celebrate, this time on Lhotse, is that of Eduard Kubatov of Kyrgyzstan. News is also expected from Piotr Krzyżowski of Poland, who set off for the summit early this morning.

Kubatov smiles inside a tent

Eduard Kubatov of Kyrgyzstan.

 

Ming Temba Sherpa has posted a video of a climber being rescued from Lhotse. Yesterday, Krzyzowski reported two rescues on the mountain: a Macedonian climber and a Ukrainian.

Angela Benavides

Angela Benavides graduated university in journalism and specializes in high-altitude mountaineering and expedition news. She has been writing about climbing and mountaineering, adventure and outdoor sports for 20+ years.

Prior to that, Angela Benavides spent time at/worked at a number of local and international media. She is also experienced in outdoor-sport consultancy for sponsoring corporations, press manager and communication executive, and a published author.