Posted: Oct 02, 2006 08:55 am EDT
In 1973 two Japanese became the first to scale Everest during the post-Monsoon season. Since then the autumn season has hosted a number of teams throughout the years, but not nearly as many as in the spring. The monsoon brings with loneliness, higher humidity and increased precipitation. Autumn teams can generally expect more snow on the mountain, especially early on. The snow is a double-edged sword, however. For skiers, the autumn Himalayan season is popular – a majority of past ski descents are in the fall.

The fall weather

Climbers have until late October to summit because of both weather and permit reasons. To date, no one has ever summited in November. By that time the mountain gets very, very cold and windy. The season starts warm and gradually gets colder, just the opposite of the spring season when towards the end, the icefall is plagued with increased avalanches due to rapidly melting snow.

Historically most of the fall’s summits are in early October. From there the numbers taper down towards the end of the month. Historical summits dates are congruent with the past years’ weather patterns – around the 10th average wind speeds pick up drastically, from climbable (lower teens) upwards of storm force (30 and even 40 m/s).

The Everest fall window

The challenge Wally Berg's team have faced, all alone of the South side is to have that side of the mountain fixed and ready by the end of September. It is an unusual season with climbers and skiers on both sides of Everest this fall, but so far all is good.

South side has much of the logistics in place and Saturday word came from the North side that the Spaniards have commenced their summit push. The team is in an ideal situation time and weather wise - pinpointing the usual fall window.

Luck favors the bold

The Spaniards are climbing with no 02, no fixed ropes, no sherpas, no fixed camps - and in one single push. Low season, during the monsoon - they are challenged but also lucky enough to experience a silent Everest whose slopes they have all to themselves. Their mission is daring and the chances of summit slim, but the adventure is unforgettable.

“Everest is still my dream mountain,” Ferran said. “Climbing in such a pure, clean way would be the best thing I’ve done as an alpinist. Climbing the Hornbein would close a perfect circle: A great mountain, from a great route, in a clean style, and with mates such as Alberto and Juan.”

The actual climb via the Supercouloir (combination of Japanese/Hornbein couloirs) started yesterday (Sunday) with the Japanese Couloir snaking precariously through an avalanche-prone gully, steepening in some sections to 70 degrees.The team expect they’ll need four days to reach the summit (everything going according to plans, this could happen Wednesday), plus one day for the descent.

The Japanese pioneer

Of the 15 recognized routes on Everest, the North Face’s Japanese Couloir/Hornbein Couloir is the most direct line to the summit, but not the easiest. Nor the safest. The supercouloir is a demanding, 3000 meter (10,000 feet) long line. It's up to 60º steep, and there are IV degree sections on rock at about 8000m.

Since Takashi Ozaki, the Japanese butterfly collector, and Tsuneoh Shigehiro pioneered the first full ascent of the North Face along this route in 1980, only five other people have climbed it, six of the seven survived the descent. Tragically, others have died trying along the way, including a climber from the 1980 Japanese expedition who was caught in an avalanche at 7900m and the tragedy when Marco Siffredi died while attempting a snowboard descent from Everest’s summit via the Hornbein Couloir in 2002.

The Hornbein pioneers

Beginning at the base of the North Face on the Rongbuk Glacier, the Japanese Couloir ascends precariously through an avalanche-prone gully, steepening in some sections to 70 degrees. The angle eases to 40-45 degrees as the route merges directly into the Hornbein Couloir at 26,200 ft., but the climbing difficulty does not.

The smooth, downsloping slabs of the North Face form the walls of either sides of the lower gully in the Hornbein Couloir, but as the route enters the Yellow Band at 27,250 feet, most of the climbing is over rotten, flaky rock – a section that is often more hazardous with loose snow over hard ice and high winds during springtime.

The average width of the gully here is 10-12 feet and on a relentless 45 degree angle. Tom Hornbein and William Unsoeld spent four hours of “messy climbing,” ascending only 500 feet by kicking and cutting steps as they zig-zagged their way between the walls of this section when they became the first to scale the couloir in 1963.

Before exiting into the Gray Band, the walls of the Yellow Band converge over the couloir and form a 60 ft. vertical rock wall that requires the most technical climbing of the route. Hornbein and Unsoeld ventured out onto the North Face to see if there was a better way around it, but found that a direct ascent of the wall was the best route.

The Hornbein pioneers initially wanted to climb a new route up Everest's West Ridge and descend via the standard route. But they didn’t like the ridge, and traversed left onto the Tibetan North Face. Hornbein found a couloir that split through bands of rock, heading for the summit. Today the couloir, which has a tricky step to exit, bears his name.

Point of no return

Once over this step the climbers found themselves at the point of no return, as the loose rock wouldn’t allow a descent. They radioed to Base Camp: "So it's up and over for us today ..." They HAD to summit and then make it down to the South Col. Summitting at 6.15 pm, they bivouacked at 8 500m (the South side “emergency camp”), reaching the tents of the South Col the next day. Unsoeld lost nine toes.

The Hornbein Couloir continues cutting through the downward sloping slabs of the Yellow Band before and empties out onto the more solid rock of the Gray Band at 28,200 feet. At one point, the route closes in to shoulder width, barely allowing a climber to just squeeze through before it widens again.

Above the Couloir, beyond the rock, is a snow slope that leads to the Final Pyramid of the North Face. But the view of the summit here becomes indistinct. Climbers must decide whether to proceed directly up to the summit, traverse right over to the West Ridge, or left to the North East Ridge to ascend. Hornbein and Unsoeld chose the West Ridge, climbing over the worst rock of the route before attaining the ridge. The final approach to the summit proceeds over the snowy ridge which at one point gives way to a rocky knife edge that prompted Hornbein and Unsoeld to remove their crampons and overboots.

Lars Kronlund

In 1986 a Swiss expedition tried the ridge at the end but had to turn around. Apparently it was pretty narrow and hard to scale without ropes. Lars Kronlund, a Swedish Hornbein summiteer (1991), told ExplorersWeb:

“Part of the route, especially the beginning is very steep.The mid-section is 40-45 degrees. Hornbein narrows in the end and some parts are quite jammed. The Couloir narrows considerably at the end, leading to a 400 m wide, 150 m high 30 degree snow field. I crossed over a little to the left and then went straight for the summit.”

Four of the five successful ascents along the full direct route have taken place during the pre-monsoon season in May; all parties using oxygen and ropes. Lars says: “It was icy and rocky in the spring. The Swiss went during monsoon and had a huge avalanche days after they came down, which took almost the whole face.”

Four of the five successful ascents along the full direct route have taken place during the pre-monsoon season in May; all parties using oxygen and ropes. Lars says: “It was icy and rocky in the spring. The Swiss went during monsoon and had a huge avalanche days after they came down, which took almost the whole face.”

Lars was alone on his summit bid and lost several toes.

Loretan and Troillet's Night-nakedness

During Everest’s 1986 monsoon season, Erhard Loretan and Jean Troillet completed a daring, alpine-style ascent of the route in only 42 hours, without the use of oxygen, ropes or tents. Finding snow conditions perfect along the ascent, Loretan and Troillet glissaded down the entire route to the base of the North Face in less than five hours.

Interestingly enough, they chose to acclimatize only to 6 500m prior to their summit attempt. Medical studies have measured that the human body only acclimatize up to this level, those results however opposed to by many climbers.

Loretan and Troillet climbed mainly at night, opting for speed. They climbed very light, carrying nothing at all above 8000m. Their climbing style was later referred to as “night-nakedness”.

Second Alpine style ascent with 0 guarantees

If successful, the Spaniards will become only the second party to achieve this route alpine style.

Of course, conditions on Mount Everest differ greatly throughout the year. The monsoon season typically cloaks Everest in heavy snowfall. At times, the thicker, consolidated snow can allow climbers a better purchase on the route as opposed to the slippery, flaky rock exposed during the high winds of spring. However, conditions might otherwise produce rock-hard, slick ice that prevents a safe passage to the summit. There are no guarantees.

The climbers need the right combination of warmer temperatures, light winds, ideal snow conditions… and luck, in their ascent of the Japanese – Hornbein Couloir.

May 10 1980, Takashi Ozaki, made the first full ascent of the North Face. Starting from the Rongbuk glacier, Takashi and his friend took a direct line up a gully leading right into the Hornbein couloir. That gully is now known as the Japanese couloir.

The butterfly collector also soled virgin ground on K2, later married a beautiful French Embassy employee and climbed Dhaulagiri in the winter, with his wife and 3 week old baby near to Base Camp in Jomsom.

Basque Alberto Iñurrategi, 36, astonished the climbing community when, along with his brother Felix, he started climbing one 8000+ after another at a very young age; many of the peaks in alpine style or through technical routes. Felix died when the rope he was rappelling broke while descending Gasherbrum II; his 12th eight thousand meters peak.

It took some time for Alberto to recover, but eventually he got back into action and summited the neighboring Hidden Peak with Jon Beloki and Jon Lazcanoin in 2001. One year later in spring, he reached the summit of Annapurna with Jean-Christophe Lafaille, climbing from the South over the imposing East Ridge which had been climbed only once before by Erhard Loretan and Norbert Joos (Ed Viesturs and Veikka Gustafsson were part of the team, but decided not to go on due to avalanche danger). With that summit, he became the tenth climber who had reached the summit of the 14 800oers.

Alberto summited Shivling (6543 m) in India's Garhwal Himalaya in spring this year with Jon Beloki and Eneka Guenetxea as a preparatory climb for Everest. Jon Beloki, Alberto’s regular climbing partner, dropped out of the Everest project a few weeks ago. Juan Vallejo and Ferran Latorre took his place. Juan and Ferran had attempted Kangchenjunga in spring, as members of a team led by Juan Oiarzabal. In addition, Ferran is familiar with the route the team is about to face, since he attempted the Hornbein Couloir back in 1995.

Basque Juan Vallejo has summited Everest, K2, Makalu, Lhotse, Cho Oyu, Annapurna, and Shisha Pangma.

Ferran Latorre was born in Barcelona in 1970. He was awarded the Spanish version of the Golden Piolet for a winter climb to the Croz, Alps, together with Manel de la Matta (who perished on K2's Magic Line in 2004).

Ferran summited Annapurna in 2000 together with Juan Oiarzabal and Juan Vallejo. Last year, Juan and Ferran summited Shisha Pangma from its south face.

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