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.

Small light in the big wall

Gone! Japanese Nobukazu Kuriki has abandoned his summit attempt in the Everest North Face and descended to the bottom of the wall. He would return to the Advanced Base Camp (ABC) on Central Rongbuk Glacier to gather new strength for another attempt, weather permitting, the 34-year-old said by radio. According to his own words, Kuriki decided to return after having reached an altitude of 7,400 meters during the night. “There was the feeling of wanting to continue. But judging the snow conditions and my physical condition, I decided to descend,” Nobukazu said. A picture on his Facebook page, taken from ABC, shows a light point clearly to the right of the planned route towards the Hornbein-Couloir.

Bad weather approaching

Nobukazu Kuriki

As reported, the Japanese had climbed into the snow-covered North Face, solo and without bottled oxygen. On Thursday, he was confident that he would be able to reach the 8850-meter-high summit before the weather change expected for Saturday. At that moment he still had to climb more than 2,000 meters difference in altitude – an ambitious schedule. And afterwards he would have had to descend. For the next days, snowfall and stronger wind is expected on Everest. Against this background Kuriki’s decision sounds reasonable.

Nobukazu Kuriki

He is hell-bent. “I think the chance is there because the wind is weak”, Nobukazu Kuriki reported via Facebook from his Camp 3 at 6,800 meters in the North Face of Mount Everest. The Japanese wants to reach the summit solo and without bottled oxygen, in the upper part of the wall via the Hornbein Couloir. “The oxygen saturation of my blood is 81 percent and very stable,” the 34-year-old climber said and announced that he would continue to climb up still that Thursday evening (local time). If everything goes smoothly, he believes that he can possibly reach the summit on early Friday evening (local time). For Saturday, according to Kuriki, bad weather is expected.

With nine finger stumps

Everest North Face

The Japanese has already proved in 2012 that he is ready to go to the extreme if necessary. At that time, he suffered severe frostbite during a solo attempt via Everest West Ridge, where he, in his own words, had reached an altitude of about 8,000 meters. He had lost nine of his ten fingers. However, Kuriki returned to Everest, with his nine remaining finger stumps and only one intact thumb. The current attempt is already his sixth on the highest mountain on earth, all of them in fall season. In 2015, Nobukazu climbed up to 8,150 meters on the normal route on the Nepalese south side of Everest before deep snow and strong winds had forced him to turn around. “I will enjoy climbing including all the hardship that comes with it,” he had written to me before. Will he this time be rewarded for his perseverance? Hopefully he will not overwind the screw.