High altitude mountaineering

Spanish ultra-runner, ski mountaineer and alpinist Kilian Jornet completes his attempt to climb Everest single-handedly and without supplemental oxygen via the challenging Hornbein Couloir. This after an avalanche had swept him 50 meters away and he had already found extremely difficult conditions on the west shoulder.

With the establishment of mountain tourism on most of the eight-thousanders and all of the Seven Summits plus a few other mountains, the required alpinistic skills have been reduced to almost zero. By alpine skills I mean independent climbing, acting and making decisions on the mountain. Everything that used to be required on these mountains has now largely become superfluous thanks to the technical infrastructure on the mountain. It is enough if you learn to walk with crampons in the base camp and to attach yourself correctly to the fixed rope.

Kristin Harila has climbed her 14th eight-thousander with Cho Oyu in Tibet. With a time of one year and five days, the Norwegian is currently the fastest woman on the highest mountains in the world. Depending on the interpretation, she even beats record holder Nirmal Purja.

Norwegian Kristin Harila on Wednesday started her record attempt to scale the world's 14 highest peaks in less than six months. She started her race exactly where she had to give up last year due to a lack of permits: on Shishapangma.

Billi Bierling has worked for the Himalayan Database, the archive of legendary Himalayan chronicler Elizabeth Hawley, for almost twenty years. She is known for cruising the busy streets of Kathmandu on her bicycle to interview expedition climbers from around the world. In her book, she tells of the fascination of expedition mountaineering in the Himalayas and her commitment to people in need.

Last year she came close to beating Nirmal Purja's 14x8000 record time. Now Kristin Harila wants to try again - and she goes one better: The Norwegian not only wants to climb all 14 eight-thousanders in the world within a year, she also wants to do it without artificial oxygen.

Instagram, Facebook and Co have also changed the marketing options for mountaineers. In the meantime, alpinists like to be harshly criticized for their appearances in the digital media. But why actually? And what does a social media pro have to say about it?