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Japanese climber foiled in Everest bid
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A JAPANESE climber who was attempting the first summit of Mount Everest since a deadly quake-triggered avalanche destroyed part of base camp in April said yesterday that he had turned back.
Nobokazu Kuriki, 33, who lost nine fingers to frostbite during a 2012 attempt to climb the world’s highest peak, was the only person pursuing the summit this year after an avalanche set off by a huge quake killed 18 people at base camp.
The disaster saw hundreds of climbers abandon their bids to ascend the 8,848-meter peak, marking a second spring season with virtually no one reaching the summit. The deaths of 16 Nepali guides in an avalanche in 2014 sparked a shutdown that year.
“I decide to descend,” he posted on his official Facebook page in the early hours of yesterday.
“I tried hard taking all my energy, but it took too much time to move in deep deep snow. I realized if I kept going, I wouldn’t be able to come back alive, so I decided to descend.
“Thank you so much for all your support. I appreciate you all from bottom of my heart.”
It was his fifth attempt to climb Everest. Without the aid of bottled oxygen, a determined Kuriki had planned to tackle the final stretch alone overnight, ascending into the “death zone” — located above 8,000m, and notorious for its difficult terrain and thin air.
The risks are higher than usual due to regular aftershocks increasing the chance of avalanches, while experts say climbing in the autumn is more dangerous than spring due to high winds and lower temperatures.
Mountaineers usually begin their summit attempts late at night, which allows them to descend in daylight, lowering the risk of them falling to their deaths due to exhaustion.
Kuriki had originally planned to summit in mid-September before bad weather forced him to delay. Mountaineering is a major revenue-earner for Nepal, which is home to eight of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 meters.
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