Spanish mountaineer Kilian Jornet has set the record for the fastest ascent of Mount Everest without fixed ropes or extra oxygen.
Jornet climbed Everest’s north face in just 26 hours , his team reported today.
This isn’t the first record that the mountaineer has claimed, having previously set speed records for Mount Blanc and Kilimanjaro.
The 29-year-old started from base camp on the Tibet side of the mountain, reaching the summit yesterday.
His team said: ‘We believe Kilian established a new fastest known time for the route from Everest Base Camp.
‘He climbed Everest without the use of 02 (or) fixed ropes and in one single push in 26 hours.’
As Jornet is still on the mountain, his claim cannot be fully verified as climbs are only confirmed by authorities once the mountaineer returns with proof such as GPS data.
This isn’t Jornet’s first record having set speed records for Mont Blanc, the Matterhorn, Denali and Kilimanjaro.
In a statement the climber said: ‘Reaching the summit of Everest without fixed ropes isn’t something you’d do every day! I saw a fantastic sunset and finally reached the summit at midnight.’
According to his team, he had been hoping to set a record for the fastest round trip from base camp to the summit and back however he suffered stomach problems on his descent and had to take cover at higher ground.
The 29-year-old said: ‘Up to 7,700, I felt really good and was making progress as planned but then I started to feel unwell, probably from a stomach virus. From then on I made slow progress and had to keep stopping to recover.’
Adrian Ballinger who is currently at base camp with Jornet says the Spaniard may try again in the next few days to complete the record breaking return trip climb.
It is currently climbing season at the world’s highest mountain with hundreds of adventurers on the mountain trying to make it to the peak and back before the season ends.
The Guinness World Record holder for the fastest ascent of Everest’s north face is Italian climber Hans Kammerlander who reached the summit in just 16 hours and 45 minutes. However Jornet claims that Kammerlander had begun his ascent from a base camp higher up the mountain.
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