Everest 2018: Dead on Everest Japanese Alpinist Nobukazu Kuriki
Stunning news that Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki was found dead at Camp 2 on the Nepal side of Everest on the Standard route. The Himalayan Times reports that Sherpas found him at C2. I had just reported that he was feeling better after a cough and was prepared to go higher on an unspecified route. He had struggled in 2018 with a high fever and a cough. Personally, I am shocked as I always found his climbs inspirational. Update: Its now being reported that he reached C3 on the Lhotse Face and began to have problems with coughing and pain. Intermittent radio contact prevented searchers from finding him and he was missing around 11:30 pm. His body was finally found above Camp 2 in the morning. A Unique Style Kuriki-san was an alpinist purist – always alone, no supplemental oxygen and in the off seasons. He set a standard for his climbs that seemed impossible even for himself. Only a few teams attempt Everest in the autumn season each year due to shortening, cold days and the quickly approaching winter snows. But his determination and commitment was impressive regardless of the results. Climbing alone was his “style” of climbing. He had solo climbs of McKinley (2004), Aconcagua, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro all in 2005 and Carstensz Pyramid in 2006. A Strong Determination This was his eighth attempt on Everest and 13th on an 8000 meter peak, all without supplemental oxygen. Kuriji-san had become a legend in Japan with his Everest attempts and going so far as to lose his fingers to frostbite. He dreamed of summiting Everest in the autumn – rarely accomplished by any climber – in his unique style of strictly alone and without supplemental oxygen. This was his dream and he never let it go. Cho Oyu 8188m, age 24 summited on August 5, 2007 Manaslu 8153m, age 26 reached 8125m, Dhaulagiri, 81657m, age 26 summited on May 18, 2009 Everest, 8805m. age 27, stopped by weather September 9, 2009 Annapurna, 8091m. age 27, aborted at high camp with frostbite May 23, 2010 Everest, 8805m. age 28, stopped by weather January 10, 2010 Everest, 8805m. age 29, stopped by weather March 10, 2011 Everest, 8805m. age 30, frostbite October 18, 2012 Everest, 8805m. age 33, stopped by weather October 10, 2015 Everest, 8805m. age 34, stopped by avalanches , poor snow conditions, July 10, 2016 Annapurna, 8091m. age 33, aborted at high camp with bad climbing conditions October 5, 2016 Everest, 8805m. age 34, stopped by weather, May 23, 2017 Everest, 8805m. age 35, May 20, 2018 Japanese Pride Nobukazu Kuriki was quite the showman with videos produced during his climbs and slide shows after. He was a popular public speaker in Japan. His followers measured in the millions but even with that he had to hustle each year to find sponsors for his next climb. Kuriki on Everest His previous attempts have been met with drama and injury. In 2012 he attempted the West Ridge and had to be rescued by a Sherpa team. He lost nine fingers on on that thwarted attempt. In 2015, he reached a bit above the South Col before deep snow forced him to stop.nIn autumn 2016 from the Tibet side, he planned on the North Face then to the Hornbein Couloir but was turned back by poor conditions. He usually brought a large film crew along to document his experience, primarily for the Japanese market. They usually post excellent photos of his experience on his social media.Kuriki’s team posted this amazing video on him somewhere on the North Face – beyond amazing!!! He regularly posted on Facebook, Twitter (JP) and his website Thank you Kuriki-san for your courage, vision, determination and strength. Your showmanship to share your dreams brought millions into a word they otherwise would have missed. Thank you for being a true alpinist. Rest in peace in your mountains. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2018: Summit Wave 8 – Winds Picking Up
As I posted a few hours ago, there are several teams moving to the summit of Everest both on the Tibet and the Nepal sides. Also to Lhotse. Reports are now coming in of strong wind gusts. I asked Chris Tomer of Tomer Weather Solutions for his view on what was happening: Doesn’t look jet related to me so the gusts will pass. Could be a 3 to 6 hour spike. Then much lighter into Tuesday. My best guess is some spin in the middle of the atmosphere. In more general terms, the best summit window of the season is winding down. If the summit door was wide open last week then it’s starting to slowly close. Monday 21 May – Summit Wave 8 These are some of the teams up there right now: Nepal IMG Classic Team Asian Trekking Alpine Ascents Int. Summit Climb Moinz/Benegas going for Lhotse Tibet Furtenbach Adventures Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2018: Summit Wave 8 – Update 2
Update 2: Moinz/Benegas summited Lhotse a day after getting Everest. This is the 4th 800er for Matt: Cho Oyu, Makalu, Everest and Lhotse. Update 1: Reports are now coming in of strong wind gusts. I asked Chris Tomer of Tomer Weather Solutions for his view on what was happening: Doesn’t look jet related to me so the gusts will pass. Could be a 3 to 6 hour spike. Then much lighter into Tuesday. My best guess is some spin in the middle of the atmosphere. In more general terms, the best summit window of the season is winding down. If the summit door was wide open last week then it’s starting to slowly close. Seven Summits Treks had one of their three VVIP members who paid $130K summit: This morning one of our VIP member Mr. Li Jianhong climbed Mt. Everest along with two more Chinese members Mr. Lyu Jun and Ms. Qu Jiaojiao between 5:30 to 5:50 AM. Ms. Qu Jiaojiao also climbed Lhotse on 20 May together with Jian Chang (China). IMG reports they had 10 members and 13 Sherpas support staff on the summit. It’s actually amazing that there are any climbers still left on Everest given there have been summits every day since last Saturday, 12 May, over 500 combined from both side now. But once again, several other teams are staged at the South Col and C3 on the North for early Monday 21 May summits. Many are climbing NOW! Monday 21 May – Summit Wave 8, yes #8! Look for more summits, a lot, early Monday morning with teams including: Nepal IMG Asian Trekking Alpine Ascents Int. Summit Climb Moinz/Benegas going for Lhotse Tibet Furtenbach Adventures Unique Efforts Still Underway David Liaño summited Everest and now is climbing Lhotse before heading to K2. He attempted Kang but was stopped by weather. Nobukazu Kuriki is at C2 now hoping to summit in a day or two. His exact route is still unclear to me. He posted Sunday: Namaste, gentlemen. I’m in c2 now. I’m going to take a day here today and I’m going to get up tomorrow. I have a slight cough and the cough and fever in the first half of the (Expedition) are almost gone. I think I have a chance now. Perhaps the day after tomorrow I will see the appearance of lì chéng from-Camp. Anyway, I’d like to concentrate and be careful and carefully. Thank you all for your support. Rupert Jones Warner is traveling to the Tibet side for his next attempt. He summited from Nepal on 17 May. Traverse Issues Horia Colibasanu and Peter Hámor are at C2 on the Nepal side hoping to summit via the West Ridge then traverse to Lhotse. They are concerned about the incoming weather since they need several days. Not looking good for their effort as near the end of the season. Their last post was Friday, 18 May: Horia and Peter are presently at the advanced base camp (ABC), after a climbing attempt. Due to a high risk of avalanches, they returned to 6,400 m. For this year’s project, the two of them need a 4-5 day window of good weather. They keep encountering poor snow conditions. Peter posted on Thursday: Peter and Horia couldn’t continue through the couloir to the West Ridge because of the great amount of snow. They are back in the ABC. Live Stream Delay? Tenji and Jon Griffiths, have been working hard and even doing a dry run for climbing to the summit of Everest by the normal, Southeast Ridge route, then return to the South Col and on to Lhotse back to back without supplemental oxygen. The no Os part of this is why its special plus it was supposed to be live stream over Nat Geo channels. But the team has gone mysteriously silent. Tenji Sherpa posted a few days ago: “Acclimitising is over now!!! waiting for good windows for final push” I have a message into them trying to figure out whats going on. OK, on to the next wave. I’ll update as I get info. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Everest 2018: Summit Wave 7 Recap – Another Death, Summits over Obstacles
By this past week’s standard Sunday 20 May was a real slow day on Everest with just a handful of summit, around 50! But those who did had to work a bit harder than the rest to reach that spot. Also, don’t forget to read the Weekend Update for this past week that was filled with oxygen drama, deaths, records and over 400 summits! Common Sense Over Silly Rules Matt Moniz and Willie Benegas had to deal with over a week of unknowns to see if they were even allowed to attempt to summit. After they skied down the Lhotse Face, they were told they didn’t have the proper permit and faced fines, deportation and bans. Thankfully, none of that occurred as the Director General of the Ministry of Tourism determined it was a “very innocent mistake” and gave them his approval to “climb on!” And did they ever. In fact, they had to slow down and stop as they approached the summit because they were climbing too fast otherwise they would miss the sunrise!!!! Matt messaged “We went way too fast, we are burrowed in at south summit waiting for the sun inr.ch/5CEYVJJ – Matt Moniz” They waited an hour for sunrise and summited per Matt’s Tracker at 4:49 am. Follow the at Matts tracker as they go for Lhotse on 21 May. 2nd Times for Alpenglow ends well! Adrian Ballinger’s “overachiever” team summited. AB told me directly: 10 out of 10 on top this morning at 5:26am! No reg issues. We are already back at ABC, total push was 29hours round trip ABC-ABC, with no O’s until N Col. This Cho/Everest group are def overachievers ????. They basically climbed 3 x 8k peaks in 23 days in country. And they still want to walk the 12 miles down to BC this afternoon instead of spending a night. 8848m to 5200m in a day. Ouch! PS: fun fact – my team member/pro skier Jim Morrison skied 7500m to 6400m today on North Side of Everest. Good effort in pretty awful snow conditions. The team was strong and unique, not your normal commercial expedition. Jim Morrison is a well-known extreme skier and Neil Beidleman was a guide on the 1996 Adventure Consultants team and returned to summit Everest in 2011. Tibet Asian Trekking also had a good day on both sides with 4 members and 4 Sherpas on the Tibet side. Arnold Coster put 6 members along with 8 Sherpas on the summit. All are safe back at ABC or the South Col. 7 Summits Club completed their third team with summits: 3 guides, 7 members and 7 Sherpas Nepal Asian Trekking also had a good day on both sides with 13 members and 15 Sherpas on Nepal side Death The Himalayan Times is reporting a member of Tim Mosedale’s Nepal Everest team died above Camp 3. Gjeorgi Petkov, 63, from Republic of Macedonia apparently suffer a heart attack. My condolences to his family, friends and teammates. Sherpa Injury In the same report on The Himalayan Times , a Sherpa was hit by rockfall near Camp 2. This is highly unusual because C2 is situated in the middle of the Western Cwm and not under a mountain side of Everest West Should or Nuptse. Monday 21 May – Summit Wave 8, yes #8! Look for more summits, a lot, early Monday morning with teams from IMG, Furtenbach, Asian Trekking, 7 Summits Club and more. Well done to all. Climb On! Alan Memories are. Everything