Kilian Jornet scales Mt Everest Alpine Style for Speed Record

https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal...-scales-mt-everest-alpine-style-speed-record/

KATHMANDU: Spanish climber Kilian Jornet scaled the world’s highest peak from Tibetan side in a single attempt without the help of bottled oxygen or fixed ropes.

The famed alpinist, who already set the speed record for ascending the Mt Kilimanjaro, Mt Aconcagua, Mt Denali, Matterhorn and Mt Mont Blanc, successfully reached the summit via the north face of the world’s highest mountain following the traditional route at midnight of 21st to 22nd May, according to a statement issued by the climber.

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Tim

IIRC, a Sherpa climbed from the Nepali basecamp to the summit in less than 24hrs a number of years ago.

Doug

His personal blog and FKT claim are here: http://blog.summitsofmylife.com/

Tim

DougPaul said:

IIRC, a Sherpa climbed from the Nepali basecamp to the summit in less than 24hrs a number of years ago.

Doug

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A cursory search reveals

http://www.topchinatravel.com/mount-everest/babu-chiri-sherpa-the-fastest-mount-everest-ascent-record-keeper.htm
2000 Babu Chiri Sherpa 16:56

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/2004-05-21-everest-fastest_x.htm
2003 Pemba Dorjee 12:45
2003 Lakpa Gyelu 10:45
2004 Pemba Dorjee 8:10

There may be newer records.

The Himalayan Times article reads like a press release. It's not clear what Jornet's motivation is here. His CV is already beyond impressive. Maybe he's claiming FKT from the north.

Yes, the Rongbuk (Tibet) route is a completely different route from the South Col (Nepal) route. Apples and Oranges. No point in citing the times from the Nepal side as comparison.

RichS said:

A cursory search reveals

http://www.topchinatravel.com/mount-everest/babu-chiri-sherpa-the-fastest-mount-everest-ascent-record-keeper.htm
2000 Babu Chiri Sherpa 16:56

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Thanks--this is the one that I was recalling.

Doug

TCD said:

Yes, the Rongbuk (Tibet) route is a completely different route from the South Col (Nepal) route. Apples and Oranges. No point in citing the times from the Nepal side as comparison.

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The article says "speed record", not "speed record for the N Col route". Thus the S Col ascents invalidate the claim. (The article does identify the route, but as noted fails to qualify the claim.)

The S Col route basecamp is at 5380m and the N Col route basecamp is at 5180m so the amounts of climb are similar. I couldn't find the route lengths in a quick search, but I believe the N Col route is longer. It also has a much longer section above 8000m. (Both routes are normally done in multiple days.)

Doug

It seems like he was going for a record time on the round trip from basecamp to summit and back. However, he got sick and wasn't able to finish. He's probably now claiming something like "the fastest time up the North Col Route without supplemental O2 and without using fixed lines but not a true free solo due to using the ladder at the second step" and the media is just reporting it as the "Everest speed record". After all, it's a "Fastest Known Time" and they don't "know" anything that wasn't in the press release.

All good points above, of course. FKT's always come with qualifications of some sort. It's still an impressive cool accomplishment. (Summit Everest; solo; without O2; fastest time up one of the two major routes.)

But it's very true about the media not knowing much about these things. The headline of a news article last week was "Couple Climbs Mount Everest for Wedding." In fact, they only trekked as far as the Nepal basecamp, where the wedding took place. And, they were flown back out by helicopter after the photo session.