Podcast with Ryan Mitchell & Justin Sackett: No O’s Everest Update and Plans
Ryan Mitchell, a former Summit Coach client, planned to climb two 8000-meter peaks without supplemental oxygen with his friend and professional mountain guide, Justin Sackett, but not everything went as planned. In this podcast, we discuss the expedition, its risks, decision-making and emotions.
No O’s is serious business. Of the 13,532 Everest summits by 7,563 people, only 221 have been done without oxygen. And it’s deadly. Of the 327 deaths, 170, or 52%, were climbers who were not on O’s.
Ryan has become very popular since he summited Everest at age 20 in 2024 with Madison Mountaineering. He made a serious attempt on K2 in 2025 but was stopped by deadly rockfall that took lives last year. He now lives in the Pacific Northwest and is building an impressive climbing resume, including ascents of Everest, K2, Ama Dablam, Denali, Aconcagua (2), Mt. Washington, Shuckson, and more.
Justin cut his climbing teeth on Mt Rainier with over 50 summits before founding his own company, Skyline Mountain Guides. He guides in the Pacific Northwest and internationally on Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, and more.
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Alan
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Interview with Ryan Mitchell and Justin Sackett
1 viewPodcast Ryan MItchell w Justin Sackett on What Happened on Evererst 2026
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