High-risk attempt
A German climber plans to become the first person to conquer the peak in winter by himself and without oxygen.
JOST Kobusch knows that his chances of making it to the top are very slim, and also that it is possible he may never return.
The chances of him being rescued if something goes terribly wrong are practically nil, according to American mountaineer and blogger Alan Arnette.
Kobusch, from western Germany, says that is precisely the project’s appeal, namely that he doesn’t know whether it is doable.
The 29-year-old is trying to climb the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, in the winter all by himself, without the usual support of sherpas – and without oxygen tanks.
“Some people say I’m crazy,” he says. “But it’s a healthy craziness. It’s not like I’m doing it without preparation.”
Kobusch made a first attempt two years ago, just before the pandemic broke out.
He got as far as 7,350m, he says. On his second attempt, he’s hoping to reach 8,000m, and eventually the 8,848.8m peak.
Only one sherpa has ever made it to the very top in winter without the aid of oxygen, according to the Himalayan Database archive – and he was not alone.
Ang Rita Sherpa, who died in 2020, was travelling with a group of Korean climbers in the winter of 1987/88. He made it to the summit with one of them who had artificial oxygen with him, however.
Kobusch has already broken some records, becoming the world’s youngest mountaineer to climb the 6,800m-high Ama Dablam in the Himalayas alone at the age of 21, the Himalayan Database states.
He was also the first person ever to climb the approximately 7,300m-high Nangpai Gosum II, winning a nomination for the renowned Piolet d’or mountaineering award to boot.
While many perils lurk in the mountains, the only time that Kobusch actually thinks about death is when he is travelling towards the peaks in rickety old planes.
“I ask myself if I see smoke coming out of the engine,” he says. “But then I also think I’ve had a good life and I don’t have any regrets, and if it had been that, it would have been fine.”
He knows his family and girlfriend are worried about him, he says. “But I push such thoughts aside and focus on the goal. It’s a very meditative experience and I don’t feel any emotions at all while doing it. But in some quiet moments, I miss them.”
That winter two years ago, he didn’t make it to Everest’s peak.
“The route was harder than I thought, and part of it had suddenly collapsed,” he says. “And the wind was so strong that it damaged my tent.”
Worse still, he strained his foot, Kobusch says, and had stomach problems throughout the expedition.
The route to the top that the young mountaineer chose is one that is rarely travelled and it took him a long time to find it as it was hardly visible, he says.
He spent days at a time searching for the route before returning to recover at the base camp, where there was a cook and a kitchen helper.
In the most demanding areas, Kobusch attached a fixed rope to be able to descend faster.
On returning to Germany, he rested for a while, having walked at altitudes of above 5,000m for months. At such heights, the body breaks down a lot of muscle mass, he says.
The experienced climber also did physiotherapy to help his foot recover.
“I enjoyed the daily routine of being able to sleep in my own bed and take warm showers,” he says. “I loved the warmth of home.”
His girlfriend wanted to go camping, he says, but the idea held little appeal. Soon, though, he began to look ahead to his next attempt at Everest in the winter, and to get ready.
This time around, Kobusch took a more focused approach.
“I climbed a mountain with weights in my backpack. Before that I just did a lot of basic endurance,” he says.
Carrying some 15kg helped simulate the weight of his backpack on Everest, stuffed with a light tent, a sleeping bag, dry food, a cooker, sunscreen, spare gloves, music and a satellite phone.
His training schedule also included cycling, climbing and exercises to build up his strength.
This time around, he headed to the French ski resort of Chamonix at the foot of the highest mountain in the Alps, Mont Blanc, to train with his girlfriend, an ultra-trail runner. The 4,810m peak is about half as high as Mount Everest.
Now, Kobusch is back in the Himalayas and working to acclimatise to the altitude by climbing a 6,000m peak in the coming weeks.
After that, he will make repeated attempts to the summit between Dec 22 and the end of February.
Between those onslaughts, the mountaineer plans to rest every few days in a village that is 8km from the route entrance.
This time he also wants to do without a cook directly at Everest base camp in order to make the project more minimalist.
For Kobusch, that’s living in the moment.