Enlarge image
German mountaineer Jost Kobusch in the Himalayas (archive image)
Photo: Daniel Hug / Jost Kobusch / dpa
The German extreme mountaineer Jost Kobusch has a big and not entirely harmless goal: He wants to be the first person to climb the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, alone, in winter, when it is coldest and windiest, and without oxygen bottles.
The 29-year-old reported that he was already at the eight-thousander in the Himalayas, but just couldn't climb it.
The wind is simply too strong.
At the summit, he says, wind speeds of up to 250 km/h prevailed.
"Of course it's frustrating to sit down here in the base camp and wait instead of going up, but safety comes first," he told the German Press Agency and, with a view to the current situation, adds: "The goal is not the summit, but to survive.« During an attempt to climb, it was stormed so hard that his tent was completely torn to pieces while he was lying in it.
"I was really glad that I didn't fly down with the tent like on the magic carpet."
Kobusch had already tried his difficult mission two years ago, shortly before Corona - and according to his own statements he made it to 7350 meters, that was all he could do.
So far this time he has advanced to 6450 meters.
Will there be another favorable weather window for as high a climb as possible by the end of winter at the end of February?
He does not know.
"It's really extreme this time and as a result I've made less progress than I had hoped."
But the climber, who comes from Borgholzhausen near Bielefeld, doesn't want to give up.
It irritates him not to know whether his project is even possible.
For him it is a long-term project.
At some point, he hopes, he will be able to stand at the top in winter, on the highest peak in the world at 8,848.86 meters according to the latest measurements.
According to the Ministry of Tourism in Nepal, he is currently the only climber on Mount Everest.
According to the »Himalayan Database« expedition archive, only one Sherpa has made it to the top in winter without oxygen, but not solo.
Ang Rita Sherpa, who died in 2020, was traveling with a group of Korean mountaineers in the winter of 1987/88.
He made it to the top with one of them, but he had artificial oxygen with him.
ok/dpa
