Christmas in the snow – that’s definitely true for most climbers who have set their sights on projects on eight-thousanders this winter. Jost Kobusch arrived at Everest Base Camp on Monday. After his attempt the winter before last, the 29-year-old German is tackling for the second time his project to ascend solo and without bottled oxygen over the Lho La, a 6,000-meter-high pass between Nepal and Tibet, the West Ridge and the Hornbein Couloir located in the North Face towards Everest summit. In his first solo attempt on this route, Jost had reached an altitude of 7,366 meters in February 2020. This time he set himself the goal of reaching the 8,000-meter-mark.
For acclimatization he was on the way in the west of Nepal. There he succeeded with his German compatriot Nicolas Scheidtweiler the first ascent of the 6,465-meter-high Purbung on 30 November.
Continue reading “Eight-thousander winter expeditions in the starting blocks”