He had to push himself to his limits. Last Saturday, the Austrian Hans Wenzl – as reported before –  reached the highest point on earth at 8,850 meters, despite adverse weather conditions, ascending from the Nepali south side without bottled oxygen. Mount Everest was already the eighth eight-thousander which Hans summited without breathing mask. He previously had stood on top of Broad Peak, Nanga Parbat, Gasherbrum I and II, Manaslu, Cho Oyu and Makalu. In addition, he reached in 2005 the 8,008-meter-high Central Peak of Shishapangma which is 19 meters lower than the Main Summit. His long-term goal is to complete the eight-thousander collection without supplemental oxygen. Even though the 46-year-old is not a professional climber. Wenzl earns his living as a site foreman of an Austrian construction company. For his expeditions he has to take holiday. Hans lives in the village of Metnitz in the north of Carinthia. He and his wife Sonja have two adult sons. He replied to my questions, which I had sent him to Nepal.

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Mount Everest has shown his teeth again on the past weekend – just on the day when eight climbers were on their summit push without bottled oxygen. Contrary to expectations, on Saturday wind gusts and snowfall in the summit area made the ascent difficult. The result: two summit successes without breathing mask on the north side, one on the south side. Two climbers, who used supplemental oxygen at all and reached the highest point at 8,850 meters. And three summit aspirants, who turned back because of concerns for their health.

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What a pity! Ralf Dujmovits has not been able to fulfill his dream of reaching the summit of Mount Everest without bottled oxygen. The 55-year-old turned back at an altitude of 8,500 meters. From Camp 3 at 8,300 meters, he telephoned his life partner, the Canadian climber Nancy Hansen. “He had to turn back at 8,500 m because a storm blew in: 40 kph winds with snow. He was losing feeling in his hands and feet,” Nancy wrote on Facebook. “As you can imagine, he is extremely disappointed. The weather just didn’t allow for a summit.” Ralf’s wise decision demands respect and shows that he was still in control of himself.

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Ralf Dujmovits is close to his big goal. In his eighth attempt, the 55-year-old finally wants to scale Mount Everest without bottled oxygen. Ralf is only about eight hours of ascent away from the highest point on earth at 8,850 meters – if everything goes well. Today Dujmovits, according to his life partner Nancy Hansen, reached Camp 3 on the Tibetan normal route at 8,300 meters, from where he called her by satellite phone. There had been a thunderstorm for the last hour, Ralf told the Canadian. It had taken him five hours to climb the 600 vertical meters from Camp 2. “He feels a little tired, but he sounds very alert and normal,” Nancy wrote on Facebook. “He will drink a lot now, rest a few hours, and leave for the summit at 1am Nepali time (1.15 pm Friday in Canada, 9.15 pm Friday in Germany).”

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