In addition to the difficult weather conditions, there is the constraint of limited weather. A team of four Nepalese sherpas embarked on Monday in a record-breaking attempt to climb Everest in just five days. An ascent which would be the first successful in winter in more than a quarter of a century.
"No winter expeditions for record time have yet taken place, so we are trying to set a new record," team leader Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, who reached the summit of Everest at eight, explained to the press. times.
The last successful ascent in winter dates from 1993
The last successful ascent of the roof of the world and its 8,848 meters in winter even dates back to 1993, a feat accomplished by a Japanese team. At this time of year, temperatures regularly drop below 40 degrees and sometimes violent winds increase the risk of severe frostbite.
Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, 34, also plans not to use supplemental oxygen, a performance achieved so far by only one mountaineer in winter: a Nepalese in December 1987.
Four climbers in all
Three other climbers accompany him on this expedition: Pasang Nurbu Sherpa, Ming Temba Sherpa and Halung Dorchi Sherpa who each have at least two climbs of Everest to their credit. “I know the mountains… We are fully prepared and we have acclimatized. The greatest preparation to minimize the risks in the mountains is acclimatization, ”explained the expedition leader.
The four Nepalese mountaineers will join two other teams at Everest base camp awaiting ideal weather conditions. Spanish mountaineer Alex Txikon and his team and German mountaineer Jost Kobusch also hope to break the curse of unsuccessful winter expeditions on Everest.
Narrow favorable weather window
Hundreds of mountaineers flock to the roof of the world each year, but most attempt to climb in a narrow window of favorable weather between late April and May. Last year, the spring climbing season saw a record 885 people reach the summit of Everest.
It ended with 11 deaths including at least four related to the overcrowding of climbers on the mountain. Nepal is home to 8 of the 14 tallest peaks in the world and foreign mountaineers who flock to its mountains are a major source of income for the country.
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