Kuriki to Attempt Another Summit Push
Japanese mountaineer is still on Everest
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Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki will try again to reach the summit of Everest later this week, according to Adventure Blog. As Outside reported on Monday, Kuriki, the only climber to attempt to ascend the mountain since the Nepal earthquake last April, was forced to abandon his summit push on Saturday after encountering heavy snow.
“I realized if I kept going, I wouldn’t be able to come back alive,” he told CNN. “It took too much time to move in deep, deep snow.”
Kuriki posted on Facebook that he left the “final camp (7,600–6,600 meters)”—equivalent to 21,653 to 24,934 feet—and is now back at Base Camp, but according to the Telegraph, he is not leaving the mountain.
“He is staying at Base Camp for a few days but will try again for the summit starting October 1,” Tikaram Gurung, managing director of Bochi-Bochi Trek, the company in charge of the expedition, told AFP, according to the Telegraph. “He is in good physical condition and experienced no major problems on the climb.”
Whereas Kuriki’s push for the summit earlier in September involved a six-person team who accompanied him to Camp 2, Gurung said the mountaineer will make his attempt this coming Thursday solo and without supplemental oxygen.