Europe 1 with AFP 10:25 a.m., April 2, 2022

A 70-year-old French mountaineer named Marc Batard has set himself the goal of becoming the oldest person to climb Everest without oxygen, while finding a new, safer route.

He wants to explore a new way to bypass the dangerous Khumbu Icefall.

A record and a mission: a 70-year-old French mountaineer has set himself the goal of becoming the oldest person to climb Everest without oxygen, while finding a new, safer route.

Marc Batard wants to explore a new route around the dangerous Khumbu Icefall, which all mountaineers must cross to reach the highest peak in the world on the side of Nepal.

More than 40 people have already died in this treacherous and ever-changing expanse of glaciers, which forces climbers to navigate over crevices on rickety ladders.

A new "safer" route, reassures the mountaineer

In 2014, a massive block of ice broke off from a hanging glacier and tumbled down the icefall, killing 16 Nepalese guides in one of Everest's worst tragedies.

"Too many people died there," Marc Batard told AFP in Kathmandu before setting off.

"This project is not just for me. I am very happy to climb Everest again. But I want to use my reputation to do good things...this new route is not easy but it is safer ", he added.

Marc Batard was 18 when he discovered mountaineering, climbed the Pyrenees and started working as a mountain guide.

He entered the record books in 1988 by becoming the only person to reach the top of the highest mountain in the world without an oxygen tank in less than 24 hours.

His solo ascent of Everest in 22.5 hours earned him the nickname "sprinter".

A third ascent of Everest

Marc Batard also made headlines in the 1980s for quickly climbing several 8,000 meter mountains.

He now hopes to reach the summit of Everest (8,848.86 meters) for the third time, camping in Gorekshep (5,150 meters), far from the hundreds of Everest climbers installed in the usual tents of the camp of based.

The new route crosses the foothills of nearby Nuptse to an unnamed peak, then Marc Batard and his team will have to descend to rejoin the regular route at Western Cwm, below Camp 2. “We have already established part of the route...Marc Batard is a strong and experienced climber, so we hope we can succeed," said teammate Pasang Nuru Sherpa, 47, who has summited Everest 14 times.

Become the oldest person to reach the top

Marc Batard and Pasang Nuru Sherpa will both be joined by their sons, aged 26 and 42, on the expedition.

If he succeeds, Marc Batard will break the record set by Italian mountaineer Abele Blanc, who reached the summit of Everest in 2010 at the age of 55 without oxygen.

The oldest person to climb Everest with oxygen was Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura, 80, in 2013.

Nepal reopened Everest last year after a year off in 2020 due to a pandemic.

While the epidemic peaks seem to have passed, tour operators are hoping for a good season this year.

The Tibetan side of Everest remains closed to foreigners, which could mean more climbers on the Nepalese side.

Kathmandu has so far issued 135 permits for various Himalayan mountains, including seven for Everest.