The laws of sport teach us, morally oblige us not only to respect the rules of the game, but to declare the “game”, the objective to be achieved, then the acceptance of the final result. For this reason, even if deliberately, a little late compared to usual, here is my next alpine step…

Lhotse climb 1994

Everest-Lhotse-Nupse

There is only one route on the whole of the west face of Lhotse which has been climbed up until now, the one of the first ascent on 18 May 1956. It was opened by a Swiss expedition led by A. Eggler, following the ascent route of Everest as far as an altitude of 7800 meters, then changing direction towards the narrow ice and snow couloir which leads directly to the top of Lhotse. On that day in 1956 F. Luchsinger and E. Reiss reached the summit. Even today apart from the Swiss ‘normal’ route there are two others which lead to the summit and go along the south face. There are also another three which go to Lhotse Shar or on to Lhotse Middel. The east face, the Tibetan side, of the mountain is – unclimbed. That will not be my objective. Too difficult and complicated to be faced alone.

In fact I shall be alone and without oxygen during this attempt of mine to ascend Lhotse along a new variant along the west face. The inevitable presence of ‘groups’ on Everest and Lhotse itself will mean that my attempt will not be completely solitary since, as far as camp 2 at 6300 metres, corresponding also to the base of the west face of Lhotse, the normal ascents of Everest and Lhotse coincide and there is no logical alternative route (unless climbing the east face of Nuptse at 7864 meters). The routes of Everest and Lhotse continue on an identical line as far as 7800 meters and only then take different directions. The route to Lhotse is therefore a 700 meter variant compared to the normal Everest route.

My search for an eventual alternative new itinerary will start from this consideration and could after fifty years represent the second climbing route to the summit of the fourth highest mountain in the world along the west face. In case of heavy snowfalls or obvious objective dangers this search will undergo inevitable variations and corrections, avoiding the lines most exposed to eventual avalanches. Obviously these hypothetical lines of ascent are already in my mind and have been observed on the basis of my previous ascents of the summits of Lhotse and Everest (climbed by me in 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2002). To try alone has been a rational choice, which matured during the previous expeditions and took root above all during recent months, when I prepared and enjoyed myself together with friends, climbing routes on rock up to 8a and on mixed up to M10. I feel particularly fit and mature for this attempt and hope only that the mountain will feel like allowing itself to be climbed, and tickled along a different line of its imposing body of rock and ice. Any additional words to those already uttered would be superfluous. Hopes, good luck wishes, superstitious gestures are like the ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’, useless, hot air. I decided some time ago that I would not do ‘high altitude tourism at 8000 meters’ (as defined by Reinhold Messner referring to those who repeat the normal routes opened up half a century ago), and now I must only continue to be at the required level. If you wish, follow me on my internet site, I shall keep you up to date…

Timing of the expedition

The long journey which will take me to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal , will begin on 29 March 2006 from the front-door of my home in Bergamo. I shall have to stay in Kathmandu for a few days to carry out bureaucratic formalities, pay for the climbing and trekking permits, prepare all the climbing and technical equipment which has to be transported to the Everest base camp, which is the same for Lhotse at 5300 meters. This is reached after having flown for about an hour on a small plane which lands at the village of Lukla at 2700 meters at the beginning of the Khumbu valley. From there it will take about 7 to 10 days on foot, depending on the itineraries and eventual variants which I intend taking to prolong the walk, in order to permit the best acclimatisation. These variants have the purpose of reaching on several occasions ever higher altitudes even reaching 6200 meters. Base camp should be established on 10 April approximately. The human body physiologically takes about three to four weeks to acclimatise completely to very high altitudes and permit the body to be able to push beyond even 8000 meters without the use of artificial oxygen. For this reason the real and proper attempt to reach the summit of Lhotse will take place between 15 and 25 April. These dates however remain indicative because a lot will depend also on the meteorological conditions and the snowfall which I find on the Himalayan colossus. I am hoping with this project that I will be able to give everyone a big surprise… My return to Italy is planned for 2 June even if this date too is flexible depending on eventual additional requirements for extra time.