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Avalanches on the Tibetan mountain Shishapangma on Saturday killed US climber Anna Gutu and Nepalese guides Mingmar Sherpa and Tenjen Sherpa Lama, as more than 50 people were making a push for the summit. Another US climber, Gina Marie Rzucidlo, is missing.
Gutu and Rzucidlo were racing to become the first US woman to summit all 14 of the world’s mountains over 8,000m – with Shishapangma the final, decisive climb.
In July, Tenjen Sherpa Lama, who was climbing with Rzucidlo, broke the world record for summiting all fourteen of the 8000ers with high-profile Norwegian adventurer Kristin Harila, who was interviewed for this week’s Slow Newscast.
Interest in high-altitude climbing has exploded over the past decade, with a slew of companies willing to offer amateurs the chance to try their hand and a new focus on making and breaking speed-based records. With sponsors and fans waiting at home, the pressure to succeed can be enormous. It’s a potent mix, and one that experts have long warned could be deadly. The situation on Shishapangma – where rescues are ongoing – might sadly prove them right.
Many of the 52 climbers on Shishapangma on Saturday were attempting records. Some told the mountaineering website ExplorersWeb that the atmosphere at base camp was “thick with competition” ahead of the summit push.
Gutu, a 32 year-old Ukrainian-American, was an amateur climber who is reported to have had no Himalayan climbing experience before this year. Speaking to Tortoise earlier this month, ahead of her final two climbs of 14, she said that she and her team hadn’t “allowed” themselves to rest due to delays with logistics.
She was climbing with Elite Exped, a company founded and led by Nirmal Purja, the Nepalese climber-turned-celebrity whose world record Norwegian Harila and Tenjen Sherpa Lama broke earlier this year. Gutu appears to have climbed 13 mountains in around 7 months, not far off Purja’s original – and at the time extraordinary – 2019 world record.
“It’s out of control,” one mountaineering expert said about the wider industry’s growing focus on speed records.
It’s “the worst thing I’m seeing right now” in mountaineering, said one experienced Sherpa expedition leader. “It puts too much pressure [on climbers] from sponsors and supporters.”
Speaking to Tortoise in an interview for the Slow Newscast, Harila, who flew to Nepal following news of the avalanche, denied that record-breaking attempts impacted the dynamic on 8000m mountains. In a statement following confirmation of the death of Tenjen Sherpa Lama, her climber partner, she said she was “devastated” and confirmed that she will remain in Nepal to help with ongoing rescue efforts.
Incidents such as avalanches are part and parcel of high-altitude mountaineering. The question is whether climbers – focussed on records – are ending up in increasingly risky situations. It’s believed that some climbers, including Rzucidlo and Tenjen Sherpa Lama, continued their summit attempt after the first avalanche.
The Chinese government, which controls permit access to Shishapangma, only opened the mountain to climbers for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic this season. Rescues on the mountain are ongoing but difficult: there is no helicopter rescue service available in Tibet. At least 4 other climbers were injured in the avalanches and subsequent rescue missions.
Tortoise has approached Nirmal Purja and Elite Exped for comment.