Nobukazu Kuriki

That sounds like a dance on a volcano, although Mount Everest isn’t one. According to his team Nobukazu Kuriki has started climbing the snowy Everest North Face. The 34-year-old Japanese wants to climb via the Hornbein Couloir to the 8850-meter-high summit, it said. Probably the “Supercouloir” route is meant, which combines the Japanese Couloir in the lower part with the Hornbein Couloir in the upper part of the wall. The route was opened by the Japanese climbers Tsuneo Shigehiro and Takashi Ozaki in spring 1980. “I am fully focused and start now”, Kuriki said by radio. In recent weeks Nobukazu had repeatedly explored possible ascent routes from the bottom of the wall and referred to high avalanche danger. For this reason, Kilian Jornet – as reported – had abandoned his Everest expedition. The Spaniard, known for his high-speed climbs, to his own words had climbed on the Tibetan normal route up to an altitude of 7,950 meters.

Mountaineers from lovesickness

Snowy Everest North Face

Nobukazu Kuriki has announced to climb Everest solo and without bottled oxygen. He is trying for the sixth time to scale the highest mountain in the world in the post-monsoon period, for the first time, however, on the north side. He had got a first impression of the North Face in 2012. In this failed attempt via the West Ridge he had suffered so severe frostbite that later nine fingers had to be amputated almost completely. In 2014, he had summited with only one remaining intact finger the 8051-meter-high Broad Peak in Pakistan. By the way, the Japanese became a climber from lovesickness. His girlfriend, a passionate mountaineer, had jilted him. To find out what she had wanted for Kuriki himself began to climb – he says, anyway.

Update, 2.30 p.m.: Kuriki reports to this team that he has climbed up to 6,800 meters where he will spend the night. He says, he is “quite worried” about the snow conditions in the couloir.