Kuriki at 6,800 m in the Everest North Face

See you! After the Spaniard Kilian Jornet had already left Mount Everest in mid-September, the Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki also broke down the tents on the Tibetan north side of the highest mountain on earth. Simply too much snow, the 34-year-old said. In his summit attempt two weeks ago he had sunk into the snow up to the hip.  As reported, Kuriki had ascended to an altitude of 7,400 meters, solo and without bottled oxygen, until he had been forced back by the masses of snow.

Tears in the tent

Everest North Face

After returning to the Advanced Base Camp camp, Kuriki tried to extend his permit and his visa. In vain. “I crawled into the corner of the kitchen tent and cried,” says the Japanese, who finally realized that also his sixth attempt to scale Mount Everest in fall had failed. In 2012, he had suffered such severe frostbites that nine fingers had had to be amputated.

Part of the inventory

Kuriki would not be Kuriki, if he did not immediately announce that he wants to return. Due to his experience this year he is also considering a winter attempt on Everest, says Nobukazu. Because of the icy temperatures, the air is even thinner in winter, assumes Kuriki, but possibly the strong winds in fall will have blown the snow out of the wall. We will probably see him again at Mount Everest, whether in autumn or winter. Somehow, he’s almost a part of the inventory – at times when nobody else or hardly anyone is trying to climb the highest mountain on earth.