Yuri Ermachek (left) will attempt a no O2 Everest traverse this spring. He was part of the Russian team who opened a new line of the mountain's North face in 2004. Background image of Everest seen from the Lhotse Middle, whose first ascent also accomplished Ermachek. Both images courtesy of RussianClimb.com
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Everest 2006: Polish-Russian team plans traverse without O2
Posted: Feb 27, 2006 09:30 am EST
(MountEverest.net) Russian ace Yuri Ermachek will team up with a Polish team led by Boguslav Ogrodnik for a no O2 Everest traverse, according to RussianClimb.
Six from Nepal - two preparing descent in Tibet
Six members of the eight man strong team will climb from the South Col route on Everest's Nepal side up to the summit, and descend via the North Col route in Tibet.
Meanwhile, two other climbers will join Alex Abramov's team on the North side. The two will stay there and set tents for the other climbers completing the traverse.
Although there have been a few other traverses on Everest before, this kind of Nepal-Tibet traverse has only been done once before, in 1988, by the ambitious China-Japan-Nepal “Asian friendship Expedition” consisting of a whopping 254 members.
The first Everest traverse, achieved in 1963 by Americans Willy Unsoeld and Tom Hornbein, was done by climbing the West ridge to the summit, and then descending towards the South col route.
Last year, four-time Everest summiteer Luis Benitez and a sherpa were to guide Australian Piers Buck on the unusual climb, but bad weather prevented the push and eventually Piers flew to Everest North side to attempt the summit from there instead. Benitez also turned round from C4 on the Khum side on his own summit attempt.
Russian Yuri Ermachek, from the Ural region, was part of the Russian team who climbed a new route on the center of Everest's North face in 2004 - awarded by ExplorersWeb among the Best of 2004. He also was part of the team who first climbed the Lhotse Middle in 2001. In 1997 he also accomplished the first climb on Makalu's West face, an expedition awarded the Piolet d'Or . Ermachek also achieved the first ascent on the NW face of Gorki Peak in 2002.
The difficulty of an Everest traverse is obvious: Climbers don't have the advantage of following a familiar route on their descent - they will have to negotiate new terrain when they are at their most tired. If the climb is done without supplementary O2, as in this case, the climbers will have to face an exhausting summit day and afterwards face a long descent, resulting in a long period of permanence in the death zone.
They also need special climbing permits, double visas, and logistics prepared for both sides of the mountain.
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