Everest 2015: Climbs to Watch

Everest Western CWEvery year, there Everest attracts climbers wanting to do something out of the ordinary and 2015 will be no different. This is a quick overview of some of the ambitious plans from climbers all around the globe:

Rarely Climbed North-Northeast Ridge

Canadian Raphael Slawinski will be attempting a different route with two German friends, ed  David Goettler and Daniel Bartsch with no Sherpas or Os. source

N-NE (Zakharov’s) Couloir: May 20, 1996- Russians Peter Kuznetzov, Valeri Kohanov, and Grigori Semikolenkov climb the Zakharov Couloir to the top of the North Ridge, and then follow the NE Ridge to the summit.  source

Speed Climb

Kilian Jornet will attempt to set a speed record on Everestbut not from Base Camp but perhaps starting from a lower village,  even Namche. Of course he will not use supplemental oxygen. This is a good overview of him at The New Yorker

He set a record on Denali with an ascent and descent taking 11 hours and 48 minutes, which was five hours faster than the previous record of 16 hours 46 minutes set by Ed Warren in 2013. He set another record on Aconcagua starting from the park entrance at Horicones and after reaching Plaza de Mulas Base camp at 4400m he continued on via the Normal Route, covering almost 30km and ascending 3.962m vertical meters to reach the summit, struggling slightly with the altitude during the last 400m. He descended via the same route and completed the 59,85km roundtrip in 12 hours 49 minutes. source

Skiing Lhotse

Matt Moniz and Willie Benegas will summit Everest then attempt to ski the Lhotse Coulair, it has never been fully skied.

Everest, Kanchenjunga and K2

Kenton Cool will attempt what he calls the Himalayan Trilogy of Everest, Kanchenjunga and K2 all in 3 months. source

Summit from Both Sides

Rupert Jones-Warner will attempt a double climb from the north then helicopter to the Nepal base camp for an attempt on that side thus hoping to become the first Briton to do this. In 2013, David Liano accomplished the same feat. source

Everest with No Os

Ralf Dujmovits, so far the only German who climbed all eight-thousanders, wants to scale Everest without bottled oxygen – together with the Canadian Nancy Hansen. Alix von Melle and Luis Stitzinger plan to do the same. They are climbing with Amical. source

Best of luck to all.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

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8 thoughts on “Everest 2015: Climbs to Watch

  1. Dear Alan, Your statement giving the highlights of new climbing routes, new way of climbing & other ideas seems to be very encouraging & interesting. Let us hope that all the new attempts will make their way & make it a success. We are bored with regular straight climbing from South & as well North via standard routes with Sherpa support for fixing the ropes upto the summit & then guiding the climbers individually right from Base Camp. This year seems to usher a new era remembering the glorious past.

    1. Asim, yes new routes are exciting for all. However, for someone who has never climbed any route on a mountain, it is new for them thus just as exciting for that indvidual, and far from boring 🙂

  2. I have nothing but respect for anyone who climbs and just wish I was able to do it. But I read and watch alot about mountain climbing and most of the times people who have climbed Everest and K2 state Everest is a walk in the park, I like like to know what route they took. Was it the easier one’s? Or the least climbed routes from witch I understand are pretty hard and difficult? I love your site Alan TY

  3. Hello Alan,

    I just wanted to point out that Killian’s record was recently broken by Swiss-Ecuadorian Karl Egloff. He set a time of 11:52 from Horcones to Aconcagua’s summit earlier this year. I met him on the summit; he is a real gentleman and someone to keep an eye on!

    I love your website, thank you for your consistent voice and your website’s amazing resources for new climbers such as myself!

  4. Let me first state that I am coming from a position of not being a person who climbs even the smallest mountain as an ant hill would be a challenge for me! But I love following the blogs and rooting for those of you who have the drive, ambition and physical ability to climb these mighty mountains. It astounds me what you are able to accomplish both physically and mentally.

    Here is my question to you all. Is Everest one of the “easier” 8000 peaks? As an outsider it seems that this is the mountain where people want to set records. Whether it be speed or without o’s people seem to want to set records on Everest.

    In light of the loss of lfe on Annapurna recently and the ratio of summits to death on that mountain, it seems to me, that Annapurna is the more challenging mountain, albeit somewhat lower than Everest.

    So is Everest where you can set records because it would not be possible to do it on K2 or Annapurna or one of the other 8000m peaks?

    And if that is the case then I have more respect for those who climb (not even summit) K2, Annapurna, or Kangchenjunga vs. setting a record on Everest.

    Enlighten me, please, if I am off base as an outsider looking in.

    Wishing you all the best on the mountains this season. Look forward to the blogs and await your successful return home. I respect all of you climbers to no end!

    Cheers!

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