Climber’s winter Everest summit bid in question

A Spanish climber has abandoned an attempt to make the first winter ascent of Mount Everest for 25 years, the expedition organiser said yesterday, after “lethal weather” forced him to retreat.It was the second time in as many years that the unpredictable Himalayan weather had stymied Alex Txikon’s attempt to scale the world’s highest peak in winter without the use of tanked oxygen.The last successful winter summit was in 1993 by a Japanese team. But only one climber has previously reached the peak in winter without using supplemental oxygen: a Nepali mountaineer in December 1987.“Alex has ended his expedition. He reached up to Camp Four but the weather did not favour him,” Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, which managed the logistics of Txikon’s Everest bid, said.Txikon, 36, and his team reached 7,950m (26,083ft) at the weekend, roughly 900m below the summit.Weather forecasts had indicated that strong winds would calm early Sunday, allowing them to press on to the summit.But winds up to 100km (62 miles) per hour forced the team to return to base camp.Txikon remains at Everest base camp and in a Facebook post yesterday afternoon said he was “considering different possibilities” – suggesting he may make another bid for the summit.For Txikon’s Everest climb to be classed as a winter summit, he must reach the peak before the spring equinox on March 20.But his climbing permit issued by the Nepal government expires on February 28 and he would have to buy a new one – at a cost of $11,000 – if he wants to continue.The temperatures near the summit of Everest in winter regularly plunge below minus 40 Celsius (-40 Fahrenheit), while the wind chill makes it feel even colder.In those conditions exposed skin freezes in less than five minutes, putting climbers at serious risk of frostbite.Limited oxygen at high altitudes also increases the risk of frostbite.Txikon was climbing without supplemental oxygen used by many climbers to reduce the effects of Everest’s extreme altitudes.The five Nepali Sherpa guides climbing with the Spaniard were used tanked oxygen. It is not clear if Sadpara was too.In 2016 Txikon and Sadpara became the first climbers to summit Pakistan’s Nanga Parbat (8,125m) – nicknamed the “Killer Mountain” – in winter, a feat they achieved without using additional oxygen. Hundreds of climbers flock to Everest each year but most attempt the climb during a narrow window of calm weather between late April and May.