A septuagenarian Frenchman aspires to become the first climber to reach the summit of Everest without the use of oxygen

A 70-year-old French climber has set his sights on becoming the oldest person to climb Mount Everest without artificial oxygen, in a mission that also aims to find a new, safer path to the world's highest peak.

Mark Buttar plans to explore a new route to bypass the dangerous Khumbu Ice Slope that all mountaineers must cross to reach the top of the famous peak from the Nepalese side.

More than forty people died on this slope, which is dotted with moving formations of ice, forcing climbers to navigate over ice cracks on vibrating ladders.

And in 2014, a huge block of ice collapsed and fell into the glacier, killing 16 Nepalese guides, in one of the most tragic Everest accidents.

"A large number of people died there," Patar, from Kathmandu, told AFP before setting out on his adventure.

"This project does not benefit me alone," he says.

I am very happy that I will be climbing Everest again, but I want to use my reputation to do good things...This new path is not easy but safer.”

Butatar began practicing mountain climbing when he was eighteen, climbing the European Pyrenees and began working as a mountain guide.

His name was included in the Guinness Book of Records in 1988 as the only person to reach the top of the highest mountain in the world without an oxygen cylinder in less than 24 hours.

His solo

ascent of Mount Everest in 22 and a half hours earned him the nickname "The Runner".

Batar also made headlines in the eighties of the last century, after climbing in a short time several mountains with a height of eight thousand meters.

He is currently hoping to reach the summit of Everest (8848.86 metres) for the third time, by setting up his camp in Gorakhship (5150 metres), away from the tents housing hundreds of climbers.

The new route crosses the slopes of nearby Mount Noptse to an unnamed summit, then Patar and his team walk back down to the usual Westerncom trail below Camping 2.

"We have predetermined part of the route...Baatar is a strong and experienced climber, so we hope to succeed," said his partner in the mission, Basang Nuru Sherpa, 47, who has climbed Everest 14 times.

Their two sons, aged 26 and 42, will join Patar and Sherpa on their journey.

If this mission succeeds, Patar will have broken the previous record set by Italian climber Abel Blanc by ascending Everest in 2010 at the age of 55 without an oxygen cylinder.

The oldest climber to climb Everest with an oxygen cylinder is 80-year-old Japanese Yuichiro Miura, who achieved the feat in 2013.

Nepal re-allowed climbing Mount Everest last year, after the sport was stopped there in 2020 due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tour operators hope that this year will be a good season after the number of injuries has decreased.

But the Tibetan side of Everest remains closed to foreigners, which could lead to more climbers taking refuge on the Nepalese side of the mountain.

To date, Kathmandu has issued 135 permits to climb several mountains of the Himalayas, including seven for Everest.

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