Jost Kobusch Archive - Adventure Mountain

12. January 202512. January 2025

Jost Kobusch ends winter expedition on Mount Everest

Jost Kobusch in the Khumbu region — Jost Kobusch in the Khumbu, the Region in Nepal around Mount Everest

The premature end to his winter expedition on the highest mountain on earth does not come as a complete surprise to me. Even after Jost Kobusch‘s first push of the season on his route – he reached an altitude of around 7,500 meters on the West Ridge on 27 December and thus already achieved the goal he had set himself for his third Everest winter expedition – the 32-year-old German mountaineer reacted rather cautiously to my question as to whether he would climb up again.

Survived earthquake physically unscathed

Jost finally set off again at the beginning of last week and was surprised by the effects of the strong earthquake in Tibet while climbing to Lho La, a pass that connects the Nepalese Everest Valley with the Tibetan side, in his tent at 5,700 meters. He survived the tremors physically unscathed. But after his return to his “base camp” in the “Pyramid”, an Italian research station and lodge located at around 5,000 meters, Kobusch seemed even more indecisive.

10. January 202510. January 2025

Eight-thousander winter expeditions in Nepal: Waiting for the chance

Winter expeditions on eight-thousanders are no walk in the park. In addition to the extreme physical challenges due to the extreme cold of sometimes minus 30 degrees Celsius or even lower and the usually low air pressure, the weather is also unpredictable: there is the threat of heavy snowfall, which leads to an increased risk of avalanches, and stormy gusts, sometimes up to hurricane force, which can literally sweep a mountaineer off the mountain. The number of real summit opportunities with acceptable conditions on the mountain is small. And so winter mountaineers often have to exercise patience.

Moro: “Like a game of chess with wind and elements”

On the 8,167-meter-high Manaslu in western Nepal the Italian Simone Moro, the Nepalese Nima Rinji Sherpa and the Pole Oswald Rodrigo Perreira climbed to the base camp at around 4,800 meters today. “It will be a chess game with the wind and elements, hoping to find a window of good conditions,” Simone wrote on Instagram before setting off.

7. January 20258. January 2025

Jost Kobusch experienced earthquake in tent on Everest: “Everything shook”

Jost Kobusch - on the West Shoulder of Mount Everest on 27 December — Jost Kobusch – on the West Shoulder of Mount Everest on 27 December

Jost Kobusch was surprised on Mount Everest by the effects of today’s strong earthquake in Tibet in his tent at an altitude of around 5,700 meters. “At first I thought a serac (block of glacial ice) had gone off next to me,” the 32-year-old German mountaineer tells me on the phone. “Then I realized that everything was shaking.”

Kobusch had spent the night about halfway up on the way to Lho La. The pass connects the Everest Valley on the Nepalese south side with Tibet. This is where the West Ridge begins, over which Jost wants to climb Mount Everest in winter. After reaching an altitude of around 7,500 meters on his planned route on 27 December, this time he climbed “without any expectations”, says Kobusch. “I just wanted to feel what was possible. I had everything I needed to possibly climb higher.”

7. January 20257. January 2025

Strong earthquake in Tibet near Mount Everest

Approach to Mount Everest (center) through the Tibetan region of Tingri (in 2005)

The border region between Tibet and Nepal not far from Mount Everest was shaken by a strong earthquake today. According to Chinese reports, it reached a magnitude of 6.8 on the Richter scale, while the US earthquake observatory measured a magnitude of 7.1.

Chinese state media reported at least around 120 dead and hundreds injured on the Tibetan side. The epicenter was in the county of Tingri, around 80 kilometers north of Everest.

Tingri is the gateway for many mountaineers and trekking tourists making their way to the Tibetan north side of Mount Everest – or to the north side of the eight-thousander Cho Oyu.

In the Khumbu, the region on the Nepalese south side of Everest, the earth also shook. No major damage has been reported from there so far. The earth tremors were also felt in the capital Kathmandu, as well as in the neighboring countries of Bhutan and India.

30. December 20245. January 2025

Jost Kobusch after Everest attempt: “It would have been too dangerous to climb any higher”

Jost Kobusch on the West Shoulder of Mount Everest

Jost Kobusch kept a cool head on Mount Everest. On his first push this winter, the 32-year-old German climber reached an altitude of 7,537 meters on the West Ridge. The altimeter on his watch showed this value on 27 December. His GPS tracker measured the highest altitude at 7,488 meters. On another model, the figure was 7,553 meters. Such differences are not unusual for altimeters.

In any case, Jost climbed around 200 meters higher than during his most successful attempt to date in the winter of 2019/2020, when he turned back on the West Shoulder. This time, he sniffed into the upper part of the West Ridge. I asked Jost via WhatsApp if he hadn’t been tempted to pitch his tent there and climb further up.

27. December 202427. December 2024

Jost Kobusch on Mount Everest at around 7,500 meters

If his GPS tracker sends correct information, Jost Kobusch has almost reached the goal of his winter expedition to Mount Everest this year. According to the data sent by the GPS tracker, the 32-year-old German mountaineer climbed over the West Shoulder onto Everest’s West Ridge today and reached an altitude of 7,488 meters. Jost, who is climbing solo and without bottled oxygen, then set off on his descent again. His last signal today, Friday, was sent from an altitude of just below 7,000 meters.

21. December 202421. December 2024

Mount Everest, Manaslu, Annapurna: Starting signal for eight-thousander winter expeditions in Nepal

Winter solstice. This Saturday, at 10.19 am Central European Time (9.19 am Universal Time), the calendar winter began. And that was also the official starting signal for three winter expeditions on eight-thousanders in Nepal. “My expedition will start right the next day on 22nd of December so that I‘m certain I start my climb fully in winter,” writes Jost Kobusch on Instagram.

In the past, there have always been discussions among mountaineers about what exactly is meant by a winter expedition. On the one hand, there were those who took the meteorological winter (1 December to 28/29 February) as a basis and insisted that the summit success had to be achieved by the end of February at the latest. On the other side were those for whom the calendar winter was the measure of all things: with the start on the winter solstice and the beginning of spring (in 2025 on 20 March) as deadline.

19. December 202319. December 2023

Winter attempts on the eight-thousanders Annapurna I and Gasherbrum I

Annapurna massif — Northwestern view of Annapurna (the main summit on the left)

“Although December is a very good and pleasant month in Nepal – I would say it is the best month of the year – the wind has made us suffer a lot,” Alex Txikon wrote on Instagram the day before yesterday. “It has blown between 70-80 km/hour, and we stopped very close to Chulu Far East, 6,059m. It is a nice mountain, but the wind has made us suffer … The most important thing is that we have spent many nights at high altitudes.” The 42-year-old Spaniard and his team are currently acclimatizing in the region around the eight-thousander Annapurna I in western Nepal for a winter attempt on the tenth highest mountain on earth.