Everest: Summits without Bottled Oxygen from Northside and Tragedy on Southside (Updated)

Several 'No O2' climbers launched summit push from C3 (at 8300m) on Everest, last night. Individuals climbing without bottled oxygen were particularly waiting for a less crowded mountain, as majority of commercial climbers completed their ascents after first summits on May 19th.

No O2 climbers including Thomas Lammle, Esteban Mena, Carla Perez, Jorge Antonio Salazar Gavia, Jorge Hermosillo and most likely Alexander Barber left C3 at night and aimed to reach the top today. Adrian Ballinger and Cory Richards have just reached C3 (8300m) and will be going for summit tonight. Another No-O2 climber Mick Allen summited on May 21st. He, however, started using supplemental oxygen above 8400m after losing sensation of his toes.

As of now, following climbers who intended to climb without bottled oxygen have reached the summit.

1. Carla Perez (Ecuador)
2. Thomas Lammle (Germany)
3. Melissa Arnot (USA)
4. David Roeske (USA)
5. Cory Richards (USA)
* Azim Gheychisaz (Iran) summited from Southside without supplemental Oxygen.
* Carla and Melissa are 7th and 8th lady climbers to summit Everest without Oxygen.
x. Esteban Mena (Ecuador) (Used Oxygen)


There were around 10 climbers attempting Everest without bottled oxygen from Northside, this season. From South, only Azim Gheychisaz’s no O2 ascent is known to us. All other climbers switched to bottled oxygen at some point on summit push.

Update 01: Jorge Antonio Salazar Gavia and Jorge Hermosillo cancelled their summit push to help fellow climber Luis Álvarez and another mountaineer on descent. Luis summited with O2 but is suffering from visibility loss. Fingers crossed for safety of troubled climbers.
Carla Perez. Source: Carla's Facebook Page

Tragedy on Southside: Death, Disappearances and Rescue
An Indian expedition run into trouble during the summit push from Southside on weekend. The team left for the summit on Friday night and by Saturday afternoon four members, Sunita Hazra, Subhas Paul, Paresh Chandra Nath and Goutam Ghosh were out of communication. Sunita Hazra and Subhas Paul were, however, found on Southeast Ridge above South Col that night. The two climbers were seriously injured and needed assistance on descent.

Sunita was successfully brought down to lower camps and eventually flown out to Lukla, today. She is currently in a hospital in Kathmandu and is reported to be “out of danger”. Subhas Paul, however, died while being rescued from C4 to C3.

Two climbers Paresh Chandra Nath and Goutam Ghosh are still unaccounted for.

Shadow of Everest draws to rising Moon, as seen from near summit. Photo: Ed Viesturs
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