This year, Kenton Cool attempts to summit the three highest peaks in the world - Everest (8848m), Kangchenjunga (8586m) and K2 (8611m) - only three months. Having climbed Everest 13 times already along with many other mountain peaks around the globe, this IFMGA guide is also the only British adventurer to ski down two 8000m peaks. He is reportedly to push for the final summit starting from tonight with a goal to touch the summit point early in the morning on Thursday.
Two Spanish climbers Sergi Mingote and Carlos Garranzo, alongside Brazilian mountaineer Moeses Fiamoncini and Juan Pablo Mohr, have reportedly reached at Camp-4 (7900m) of Lhotse without any conventional Sherpa support and supplemental oxygen approximately at 1pm on May 15. If the weather remains the same without taking any drastic change, this non-Sherpa-supported all-alpinist-team would start for the summit bid from 2am onwards on May 16 leaving Camp-4, followed by an early morning summit to Lhotse and a traverse to Everest during their return.
In another Everest-Lhotse expedition, American climber Alexander Pancoe has teamed up with British mountaineer Rob Smith. After a couple of rotations in the last few days, they have now descended to lower camps for refreshments and waiting for a stable climate for the final summit push.
David Göttler, who is climbing Everest without supplemental oxygen, has been on the verge to push for the final summit. However, due to unfortunate weather constraints, he came back to Base Camp again from Camp-4 and strongly determined to attempt for the summit back again.
American alpinist-twins - Benegas Brothers, have returned to the Everest Base Camp after few rounds of heads-up to higher camps. As the rope fixing team has now opened the route for everyone to climb, the brothers-duo has decided to avoid the crowd all the way up to the summit bid and wait for a more stable weather window.
Cory Richards and Esteban Topo Mena are back to lower-altitude Tibetan Plateau at Shegar (4300m) for refreshments after their final round rotation for acclimatization. They're soon planning to start the summit bid once again in a few days.
Adrian Ballinger's team is also reportedly back at the Advanced Base Camp after a windy night-halt at Camp-2 (7700m) on May 14.
Carla Perez - first Latin American woman to summit Everest without supplemental oxygen is again back in the lap of Everest with her new team with Alpenglow Expeditions. She and Chad Peele are reported to be leading a team of 5 climbers - ski mountaineer Caroline Gleich, Rob Lea, Kara Stinson, and two others. Their team is now waiting at Everest Base Camp for the final push once the prevailing sturdy wind on the north side comes to a manageable situation.
Photo Courtesy: Rob Lea
