Tibetan north side of Everest

It is not only the thin air on Everest that makes climbers pant. Meanwhile, also a race seems to have started to be the most hip in social networks. Number one in this category this spring season – taking in account the media response worldwide – are without question the two Americans Adrian Ballinger and Cory Richards. They document their ascent without bottled oxygen on the Tibetan north side also via Snapchat – the image and video messaging service for smartphones and tablets, in which the messages automatically disappear after a while – and thus make couch potatoes gasp. Under #EverestNoFilter, everyone can follow Ballinger’s and Richard’s ascent via the Northeast Ridge virtually in real time and unfiltered. The two climbers want to reach the 8850-meter-high summit this weekend.

How much self-promotion is needed?

Not only on Snapchat, but also on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Adrian and Cory are sharing with their fans whatever happens during their ascent. Even their heart rate data are published. The two climbers even seem to enjoy it having several Internet things on the go at once. And apparently it’s no problem for them that they may go down in Everest history as “Transparent Climbers”. Both are professionals, knowing how to blow their own trumpet. But is it really necessary to do it so intensive?

“Our goal is to share our perspective and encourage dialog on both the positive and negative sides of climbing Everest,” Adrian wrote before the beginning of the expedition. “Ultimately what we want is a positive future for Everest, and for those who work and recreate on the mountain.” Ballinger is the founder and head of the operator Alpenglow Expeditions. The 40-year-old has already climbed Everest six times, but always with bottled oxygen. Cory Richards, born in May 1981, is a climber and professional photographer. In 2011, he – along with Italian Simone Moro and Russian Denis Urubko – succeeded the first winter ascent of the eight-thousander Gasherbrum II in the Karakoram.

Lhakpa’s seventh success

On Thursday, more than 200 climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest. And the wave continues to roll. Also from the north side, where now, as on the south side, the normal route is secured with fixed ropes up to the highest point, the first successes were reported. Among others, today Lhakpa Sherpa reached the summit and thus broke her own record: With seven ascents, the 42-year-old, born in Nepal and living in the US, is the woman with the most Everest summit successes.

Death on Dhaulagiri

Dhaulagiri

There were also the first ascents this spring on the eight-thousander Dhaulagiri. Spaniard Alberto Zerain, Argentinean Mariano Galvan, Rajib Bhattacharya and Prasad Joshi from India and a Sherpa, whose name was not reported (a very common bad habit), reached the 8167-meter-high summit. On the descent the 43-year-old Bhattacharya collapsed at 7,600 meters and died.