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.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner is still dreaming of Mount Everest. The 42 years old Austrian has not yet given up her plan to climb through the north face to the summit on 8850 meters via the so-called „supercoloir“-route, although she failed twice. In 2005 and 2010 the conditions on the wall hadn’t allowed to climb this route. „In my eyes Mount Everest is still a beautiful mountain, especially from the North, when you stand directly at the foot of the north face”, Gerlinde said (you can read and hear her statements on both Everest-60-pinboards on the right side of the blog). „Nevertheless I won’t return to Everest in the near future.” 

She watched the scene from Nuptse 

The shock is still present about what she saw last year on the highest mountain on earth. Together with David Göttler Gerlinde had climbed the 7861 meter peak Nuptse, it was the sixth ascent of this mountain in the immediate vicinity of Mount Everest. From there she saw the long queue of Everest climbers in the Lhotse wall. Before, she had noticed how unsteady many of them used their crampons. „All this troubled me greatly”, Gerlinde said. „And it hurts. This mountain hasn’t deserved it.” Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner was the first woman who climbed all fourteen 8000ers without supplementary oxygen, 2010 she was successful on Everest via the Tibetan normal route. 

Her proposal fell on stony ground 

On occasion of the 60th anniversary of the first ascent Gerlinde wishes Mount Everest more quiet and climbers „who visit him by conviction, with real enthusiasm, and who try to climb the mountain on their own, not using all available means, whatever the cost”. At the debriefing with Nepalese authorities in Kathmandu after her expedition in spring 2012 Gerlinde proposed to give Everest permits only to mountaineers who have climbed at least another 8000-meter-peak before. Her appeal fell on deaf ears.