In the end, they managed, but many have not. Both he and partner Nico Miranda said that the way down was by far the worst part of the climb. But he was not prepared for the hardships of descending.
Karl Egloff sped up Makalu last week in an amazing 17 hours 18min from ABC to summit, without oxygen. Obvious as it may seem, it must (again) be noted that a no-O2 climb means going both up and down the mountain without supplementary gas.
Nico Miranda (left) and Karl Egloff on Makalu. In the end, he finally accepted oxygen after his partners had to help him down to Camp 3. Oiarzabal stubbornly wanted to keep his O2-free ascent, despite the risk. Badly frostbitten after losing his way between the summit and Camp 4 on K2 in 2004, he wouldn’t let his worried partners put an oxygen mask on his face. This is also true for climbers who suffer altitude sickness or frostbite and need medicinal O2. All of these, no matter how minor the usage, qualify as O2-assisted climbs. There are several ways of using oxygen during a climb: from brief bursts only to only during the night to sleep better to the maximum 8L/minute flow rate. Still, the question remains: If the oxygen canisters stay in the backpack, but are there to use the moment the going gets too tough, can it really be considered a no-O2 climb? O2 dosage If everything turns out well, they just claim a no-O2 ascent. Indeed, having O2 somewhere at hand is a very helpful option when you face the decision of whether to push ahead or retreat.Ĭlimbers rarely mention that they had this choice at hand. “You try and force yourself to the limit because you know there is an O2 safety guarantee ready for you,” ExplorersWeb founder Tom Sjögren used to say during discussions with fellow Everest climbers.Ī climber masked up at Everest’s South Col. It’s what many veterans call “psychological O2”. This allows them to switch to the safest option in case the challenge is tougher than expected. In fact, they have O2 cans and masks stored in higher camps “just in case”, or even in the backpack of their assisting Sherpa. Every year, climbers on the biggest peaks, such as Everest and K2, announce that they “may try without O2”. All should be acceptable as long as they are clear. Like nearly everything in climbing, choices are personal and criteria are wide. That is an unusually high percentage these days among commercial groups, even on “lower” 8,000’ers such as Dhaulagiri (8,167m). In fact, five members of her team, outfitted by Kari Kobler, reached the top without supplementary O2 - Karma Gyalzen, Tashi Chhirring, Mingmar Sherpa, Jonas Salzmann, and Jurgen Diez. “But I so take my hat off to my fellow climbers who summited!” she said. She had set out to do it without O2 or not at all, so like Perez, she turned back. I might have made it up, but I would have got into trouble on the way down.” Here, Bierling was climbing with a heavy backpack and without oxygen. It suggests that Dhaulagiri is out of many climbers’ leagues, depending on the criteria applied. Like Perez, she is experienced, with six 8,000’ers under her belt. “Dhaulagiri is such a big mountain, it’s out of my league,” Billi Bierling told ExplorersWeb while waiting for a plane back to Kathmandu.īierling is not just a member of The Himalayan Database team. Photo: Billi Bierling Dhaulagiri is bigger without O2 Among female summiters, just 16 have done so without O2.īilli Bierling on Dhaulagiri some days ago. According to Kris Annapurna, out of the 568 Makalu ascents (until 2021), only 45 were women. Now, she waits for another summit chance. She only used oxygen when guiding on a second Everest expedition. She has summited Everest, K2, Cho Oyu, and Manaslu, all without O2. (She didn’t mention their names).Ĭarla Perez is no novice at climbing big peaks the hard way. She didn’t use oxygen but she turned around, together with two no-O2 Italian climbers who had made the same choice. I could have done the same but I told myself: Why are you then proposing challenges to yourself if when the time comes, you return to the easy, guaranteed option?” And in some cases, even that was not enough,” Perez said, “because they ended up with frostbite. “Those who were trying without O2 turned to the bottled gas.
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