It is the last ascent in his second solo winter attempt on Mount Everest. In view of the continuing strong winds, Jost Kobusch knows that – as two years ago – he will not reach the summit of the highest mountain on earth at 8,849 meters. He is aware that “the chance of reaching the summit is practically non-existent,” the 29-year-old German climber let it be known on social networks. “The only remaining hope is that I will get higher than last time, see more and gain experience. Maybe I’ll even beat my own record!”
In his first winter attempt in 2020, Jost, who plans to scale Everest without bottled oxygen via the seldom-climbed West Ridge and Hornbein Couloir on the North Face, had reached the West Shoulder at just below 7,400 meters. According to his GPS tracker, Kobusch will spend the night from Thursday to Friday at an altitude of 6,464 meters. He had already reached about this altitude once before at the beginning of January. Since then, he had spent most of the time waiting for better weather in the Everest Glacier Valley.
Safety first
Kobusch is not expected to perform hara-kiri. “If the risk is too high, then there’s no shame in just descending,” Jost wrote. “But it would be a shame to leave the equipment on the mountain. That would be environmental pollution. So, the aim of this climb is at least to get the equipment down and otherwise see what else is possible.” The German climber has set a time window for his Everest expedition from the beginning of the calendrical winter (21 December) to the end of the meteorological winter (28 February).
K2: Wait and see at 7,300 meters
On K2, the second highest mountain on earth in Pakistan, the summit attempt of the commercial Nepalese team led by Nima Gyalzen Sherpa continues. The operator Dolma Outdoor Expedition informed today that the ropes were fixed up to Camp 4 (7,600 meters) and the team was waiting in Camp 3 (7,300 meters) for its chance to summit. With wind gusts of more than 40 kilometers per hour today, it was too dangerous to continue ascending, it said.
“Depending on the weather conditions for tomorrow and the day after, the team will decide whether to go forward for the summit push or descend towards the lower camp.” As reported, Nima Gyalzen, as well as Chhiring Sherpa, Dawa Sherpa, Furi Sherpa and Ningma Dorje Tamang, plan to lead their Taiwanese client Grace Tseng to the highest point at 8,611 meters – with bottled oxygen.
