Alone, without supplemental oxygen, and in under 20 hours, he climbed from Base Camp to Everest via the South Col. The 35-year-old American set himself a daring goal. In May, he attempted three times to break Kazi Sherpa's 1998 record, but was unsuccessful. Yesterday, he began his fourth attempt on Everest.
I climb to push my own limits and raise money for youth sports programs in Nepal and Ecuador.
Tyler Andrews
Speed record on Everest
On 22.09 September at around 20:30 pm Nepalese time, Tyler Andrews started his fourth FKT (Fastest Known Time) attempt on Mount EverestHis goal: to beat Kazi Sherpa's 1998 record of 20 hours and 24 minutes.
He made it to Camp One in just under two and a half hours. From Camp Three onward, the tracker visibly slowed down, which the team attributed to increasingly strong winds.
After almost ten hours, Tyler had to make the difficult decision to turn back. At 7400 meters, he began the return journey. "He was going much slower than on previous attempts," wrote his friend Chris Fischer, who uploaded live updates on Instagram. "This was due to several reasons. He had to blaze the trail through the deep snow alone. Tyler also fell through a snow bridge on the glacier. Luckily, he was roped in." However, Andrews and his team aren't ruling out another attempt this year.
From spring to autumn
By spring, Andrews had already made three attempts on Everest. On his last, very spontaneous attempt, he made it above the "balcony," a special platform at an altitude of approximately 8400 meters. From there, he was only 450 meters from the summit of Everest. However, Andrews had already been clear before his attempt: safety always comes first. He had set himself clear abort criteria, and when he began to hallucinate, he knew it was time to turn back.
After coming so close in the spring, I'm confident that breaking this record is within my grasp.
Tyler Andrews
The long-distance runner was well aware that a speed ascent in winter would pose different challenges than in summer, as well as the advantage of an empty mountain. Compared to peak season, when he had to share the mountain with approximately 1000 other climbers, he had Everest almost to himself this late in September and was still able to rely on fixed ropes and the local infrastructure.
As fast as possible to the summit
The trail running and ultramarathon specialist holds several world records on famous mountains, including the Manaslu (9h 52min), Kilimanjaro (6h 37min 57sec), Mt. Fuji (ascent and descent 9h 50min 38sec) and Aconcagua (ascent and descent 11h 24min 46sec).
Andrews still believes that he will break the record of Kazi Sherpa So perhaps we'll be able to witness another attempt by the US long-distance runner this year.
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Credits: Cover photo: Christopher Fischer