No time for Ever-rest as James gets ready for no oxygen climb
BID TO BE FIRST IRISH TO PULL OFF DARING FEAT
AN ELITE climber is praying it’ll be a case of “third time lucky” as he bids to make history by becoming the first Irish national to climb Mount Everest without oxygen.
James McManus was just hours from reaching the summit without supplementary oxygen in 2023 when bad weather forced him to cancel his final push to the top of the world’s highest peak that stands at 8,850m.
And last year an unexpected storm forced the 41-year-old adventurer to abandon the final part of another gruelling ascent without oxygen.
Summit
It came in a climb to the top of the avalanche-prone Himalayan summit of Dhaulagari, a mountain that has still yet to be conquered by an Irish national.
So it’s little wonder that the seasoned climber, from Roscrea, Co Tipperary, said he’s taking nothing for granted as he landed in Nepal yesterday ahead of another six-week expedition to conquer Everest without oxygen.
And even though his previous expeditions were dashed at the final stages by the elements, McManus revealed he couldn’t feel more prepared this time round after subjecting himself to a brutally-tough training regime.
Along with a recent ascent of Argentina’s Aconcagua — which stands at almost 7,000m, making it the highest peak in the Americas — his punishing preparations have also included a 100km ultra-marathon in Mexico and tailor-made tolerance and breathholding exercises.
He even spent the past nine weeks sleeping in an altitude tent on top of his bed, in which air with less oxygen than the norm was pumped in to help him to acclimatise to the harsh conditions he will endure in the coming days.
If all goes to plan, McManus — who runs Dublin-based adventure travel company, Earth’s Edge — is aiming to reach base camp on April 17 ahead of a final push to the summit on around May 23.
Accompanied by a Sherpa, he’ll be climbing from the lesser-visited Tibetan side of the mountain for the first time, which he says is technically more challenging than ascending from the northern Nepalese side, but doesn’t carry the danger of ice falls.
However, a big disadvantage he will face this time round is the fact he won’t be able to rest between rotations as he could two years ago .
That’s because of the higher altitude of the 5,500m Tibetan base camp.
He said: “I need to be as fit as I possibly can for this challenge.
“Even more so than the previous two. “Because I’ll be above 5,500m all the time and that means that without oxygen my body will be constantly deteriorating.
“It’s a massive challenge, and without the supplementary oxygen I’ll be colder and moving much more slowly.
“It’s a colossal test, and if I get one thing wrong then I won’t make it.
“So that’s why I had to put so much into my preparation, fitness and ensuring my body was ready for the conditions.
Of the many thousands of people worldwide who have successfully summited Everest, just 221 have done so without the use of supplementary oxygen. The feat was first achieved in May 1978 by elite mountaineers Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler.
It came despite most experts believing that the human body wouldn’t be able to cope with the low oxygen levels [about 30 per cent of what they are at sea level] near the top of the towering peak. However, McManus said yesterday that he’s optimistic that it will be “third time lucky if the weather Gods are on my side”.
He added: It’s a fantastic puzzle and I am looking forward to solving it.”