Anja Blacha has achieved her goal for this spring season. As previously reported, the 35-year-old German mountaineer reached the summit of the 8,516-meter-high Lhotse a week and a half ago – without bottled oxygen and without a Sherpa guide.
For Anja, it was the 13th eight-thousander she has climbed without a breathing mask. Now, the only mountain missing from Blacha’s collection is the 8,027-meter-high Shishapangma. She would not have been able to climb this mountain this spring, as the Chinese-Tibetan authorities did not allow foreign climbers into the country this season.
Before returning home from Nepal, Anja Blacha answered my questions.
Anja, congratulations on your 13th eight-thousander without a breathing mask. How did you fare on summit day on Lhotse?
Thank you very much. On summit day, I benefited from fairly good weather and snow conditions, allowing me to make slow but steady progress. The only adversity was small ice, snow, and rock falls triggered by some descending climbers and cascading down the couloir. But no one was significantly affected by them.
You were once again climbing without bottled oxygen and without Sherpa support. Among the 13 eight-thousanders you have now stood on, where would you rank the fourth-highest mountain on earth in terms of challenge and difficulty?
On Lhotse, the red carpet is rolled out for you, so to speak. You benefit from the infrastructure of Everest. Virtually every meter is secured with ropes or clearly marked; more difficult sections are quickly made easier either passively by the large number of climbers creating deep footholds or actively by the installation of ladders; Camp 2 is like an advanced base camp.
The route from Camp 4 is very direct and sheltered from the weather, which makes summit day easier than on similarly high mountains like Kangchenjunga or Makalu.
Last year, you had considered adding Lhotse to your Everest ascent – which was no longer possible due to the season ending earlier than expected at the time. How were the conditions in the Khumbu Icefall, the Western Cwm, and on the Lhotse flank this time, compared to spring 2025?
The route through the icefall, the Western Cwm, and the bergschrund (the uppermost crevasse at the base of the Lhotse flank) was already very good last year; this year it was even more straightforward and easier. I didn’t notice any significant differences on the Lhotse flank.
What experience are you taking home from Lhotse?
The passivity of most climbers and expedition leaders surprised me the most. Virtually no one made an effort to form their own impression of the icefall after work there had been suspended for a long time.
Even when a small group of Sherpas was assembled for reconnaissance through the EOA (Expedition Operator’s Association Nepal), very few expedition leaders nominated Sherpas who were appropriately qualified and incentivized to assess the situation and find solutions.
Due to a lack of commitment to support rope-fixing beyond the bare minimum, the bulk of an early weather window was missed, and instead, it was accepted that a large number of climbers would simultaneously take advantage of the next weather window.
For me, this experience – shaped by politics and passivity, coupled with my own high expectations of and use of the infrastructure – served primarily as a reminder to bring more independence in thought and action to the mountain.
P.S. Last Saturday, the Slovakian Lenka Polackova reached the summit of Lhotse in the same style as Anja Blacha: without bottled oxygen and without a Sherpa guide.
Today, Wednesday, Kristin Harila stood on the 8,849-meter-high summit of Mount Everest without a breathing mask – accompanied by Mingtemba Sherpa and Dukpa Sherpa, who used bottled oxygen. With this, the Norwegian claimed the so-called “Triple Crown” by summiting Nuptse (without a mask), then Lhotse (with a mask), and now Everest (without a mask) this season. Mingtemba led her on all three ascents.