At least two world record holder alpinists among 10 foreign climbers are all set to attempt to scale Mt Everest in the autumn season, according to the expedition organisers.
© AFP 2019, Phunjo LAMA
Polish ski daredevil Andrzej Bargiel, ultra-runner Spaniard Kilian Jornet, President at Mountain Hardware Brand at Columbia Sportswear Company Joe Vernachio, and Co-founder at OpenGov, a cloud-based American software company, Zac Bookman have already confirmed that they would be attempting to climb the world’s highest peak from Nepal side in the autumn season, the organisers said.
“Renowned mountaineer Garrett Madison from Madison Mountaineering will lead a nine-member team of high-profile climbers on Mt Everest this season,” Iswari Paudel, Managing Director at Himalayan Guides, said. Besides, Spanish climber Kilian Jornet would also attempt to climb Mt Everest after leading a three-member team on Mt Lhotse in the autumn season, Murari Sharma, Managing Director at Everest Pariwar Treks informed.
Polish climbers Andrzej Leszek Bargiel, Grzegorz Bargiel and Jakub Poburka have already left for Namche Bazaar to begin their climbing activities, Chairman at Seven Summit Treks Mingma Sherpa said. A strong team of Sherpa climbers, including at least two icefall doctors, would support the foreign climbers on Mt Everest, he added.
Sources said that there would be two teams on Mt Everest this season. “Jornet will be using a single permit while others would share another Everest climbing permit.” Renowned photographers including Francois Lebeau and Jon Glassberg will be documenting their climbs on Mt Everest.
Polish team that will attempt to scale Mt Everest in the autumn season pose for a team photo. Photo: Chhang Dawa Sherpa/ Seven Summit Treks
Talking to The Himalayan Times in Kathmandu, Andrzej Bargiel said that he would be attempting to climb and ski down Mt Everest without using supplemental oxygen as well as without unfastening the skis.
“As there will be a very few climbers on Mt Everest in the autumn, it will be easy to ski down from the roof of the world,” Bargiel, who created history by skiing down from K2 last year, said.
However, the details about Jornet’s climbing plan have not been made available yet, Sharma said. Under the ‘Summits of My Life’ project, Jornet has intended to complete the ascent in one go to set a new speed record (Fast Known Time in his parlance).
Jornet, one of the all-time great mountain runners, set the speed record for ascending the Mt Kilimanjaro, Mt Aconcagua, Mt Denali, Matterhorn and Mt Mont Blanc. After getting every detail of the climbs and of Jornet’s claims examined by American mountain runner Dan Howitt , UK-based author Adharanand Finn recently shared in his book “The Rise of the Ultra Runners: a Journey to the Edge of Human Endurance” that the famed alpinist, as claimed earlier, had not summitted Everest twice without oxygen or fixed ropes from the Tibetan side in May 2017, according to the Canada’s Running Magazine.
Climbers attempting to Scale Everest:
Kilian Jornet – Spain
Garrett Madison – USA
Joseph Vernachio – USA
Kristin Bennett – USA
Zac Bookman – USA
Tim Emmett – UK
Andrzej Leszek Bargiel – Poland
Grzegorz Bargiel – Poland
Jakub Poburka – Poland
Rafal Maciej Fronia – Poland
by RAJAN POKHREL
This article first appeared on http://thehimalayantimes.com . The original can be read here .