Nobukazu Kuriki, a Japanese mountaineer attempting to be the first to summit Mount Everest since the April earthquake in Nepal, reached the South Col between Everest and Lhotse late Tuesday night, according to ExplorersWeb. He is now making the final push for the top.
“It’s windy and very cold, but my condition is good,” Kuriki wrote on a Facebook post at about midnight on Thursday, Nepal time, after leaving the final camp. “Estimated time to reach the summit would be from tomorrow morning till noon.”
As Outside reported in late September, Kuriki was forced to abandon an earlier summit attempt due to heavy snow, but he did not descend lower than Base Camp and said he would try again within a few days—this time, as a solo climber, and without supplemental oxygen.