Jost Kobusch – on the West Shoulder of Mount Everest on 27 December
Jost Kobusch was surprised on Mount Everest by the effects of today’s strong earthquake in Tibet in his tent at an altitude of around 5,700 meters. “At first I thought a serac (block of glacial ice) had gone off next to me,” the 32-year-old German mountaineer tells me on the phone. “Then I realized that everything was shaking.”
Kobusch had spent the night about halfway up on the way to Lho La. The pass connects the Everest Valley on the Nepalese south side with Tibet. This is where the West Ridge begins, over which Jost wants to climb Mount Everest in winter. After reaching an altitude of around 7,500 meters on his planned route on 27 December, this time he climbed “without any expectations”, says Kobusch. “I just wanted to feel what was possible. I had everything I needed to possibly climb higher.”
Tent no longer usable
“My tent was standing relatively securely on a slab of rock, as if on a small balcony, flanked by ice towers to the right and left,” Kobusch continues. “Eventually, I heard stones falling. And I felt the pressure waves as some of the seracs collapsed.” One of these waves literally pushed out the viewing window of his tent, which is now unusable, says Jost. When the earth tremors subsided, Jost waited a while before setting off on his descent. “I deliberately took my time so that everything on the mountain could sort itself out again.”
The Nepalese south side of Mount Everest (in 2002)
Many worried calls
A few hours after the earthquake, Kobusch reached his “base camp”, the “Pyramid”, safe and sound. The Italian research station is located near the settlement of Lobuche at an altitude of around 5,000 meters. Once there, he first had to make a series of phone calls. “Everyone was in an uproar. It felt like every official in Nepal wanted to know if I was okay,” says Jost.
Surviving an avalanche on Everest for the second time
I ask him whether he is considering climbing his planned route again this winter despite the uneasy feeling following the earthquake. Kobusch sounds skeptical. “I’ll wait and see over the next few days. Who knows what else is coming? There will be further tectonic activity, possibly some aftershocks,” says Jost. “And the ascent to Lho La alone is highly prone to avalanches.”
It was Kobusch’s second earthquake experience on Everest. In April 2015, the devastating earthquake in Nepal triggered an avalanche that came down from the seven-thousander Pumori opposite and destroyed Everest Base Camp. 22 people lost their lives. Jost’s video of the avalanche, taken at the base camp, went around the world at the time.
