Tyler Andrews is not ready to accept defeat on Everest. Hours after admitting that “the mountain said no” over the weekend, he has just announced he is leaving again tonight at 9 pm Nepal time. That’s about two hours from now.
The weather looks great tomorrow. The bad news is, the Khumbu Icefall does not.
The mountain says no, but…
Tyler Andrews tried to bag the fastest ever Everest ascent last Friday. Contrary to his original plans, he opted to use supplementary oxygen because of high winds on the upper sections of the mountain. However, expedition leader Dawa Steven Sherpa decided to turn Andrews around on Saturday morning at around 8,000m, and move both Andrews and his support team (distributed at several points along the mountain) down for safety reasons. The wind was just too strong.
Tyler Andrews’ performance on May 23 and May 24. Graph: Racecast.io
Yesterday, Andrews posted a video of his highest point, showing strong winds above the South Col.
“For the second time in two weeks, I was under world record pace and within just a couple of hours of the summit, but Apu [“Lord”] Everest did not want to grant us safe passage,” Andrews wrote.
Andrews was devastated to have come so close. He had been focused on his Everest Fastest Known Time (FKT) project for years, and needed some time to consider his next move. Less than 24 hours later, he has decided to try again.
Andrews had shared no details, but in a text to ExplorersWeb, he said he will go with regular climbing partner Chris Fisher at least part of the way. He also confirmed to ExplorersWeb that he has reverted to his original plan of climbing without supplementary oxygen.
Route and weather
There is a good reason for this last-minute attempt. After a crazy month of uncertain weather because of the jet-stream winds, forecasts agree that tomorrow will be an excellent summit day.
Multimodel forecast for Everest at summit altitude for this week. Chart: Meteoexploration.com
Unfortunately, better weather means worse conditions on the Khumbu Icefall. It has been deteriorating over the last few days, to the point that it could close soon. Suman Gurung, one of the guides working for Furtenbach Adventures, had to fix a ladder-assisted passage over a crevasse as he went down on Sunday.
“A section of the icefall was just gone…It was an icy graveyard of ropes and rogue ladders hanging in space,” Gurung posted on Instagram.
Suman Gurung crosses a ladder he has just fixed over a just-opened crevasse on the Khumbu Icefall. Photo: Suman Gurung
“The route is officially open until May 29, but it is already very dangerous,” Lukas Furtenbach told us.
Egloff back in town
Andrews was not the only runner hoping for a speed record on Everest.
Karl Egloff of Ecuador left Base Camp with the same plan two hours before Andrews’ previous attempt. Egloff stuck to his original plan of going without oxygen and aiming for an FKT for the round trip rather than Tyler Andrews’ plan of timing himself just to the summit. Egloff aborted soon after Camp 3.
“As I climbed alone all night to Camp 3, I decided to go down, I had a feeling that the mountain would not receive us, a bad feeling,” Egloff explained.
Egloff flew to Kathmandu yesterday. Asked by ExplorersWeb, he said it was a surprise to learn about Andrews’ last-minute change of plans and confirmed he is not trying again this season.
All the big teams are already off the mountain, and crowding will not be a problem for Andrews. However, he and Fisher will not be completely alone on the mountain. Dan Mazur of the U.S., leader of the SummitClimb expedition, said earlier today on Facebook that around 50 climbers will try to reach the South Col tonight and go for the summit on May 27 or 28.
