Everest | 2023 W Ridge-Hornbein Couloir

A Spain expedition to Everest in 2023 via W Ridge-Hornbein Couloir, led by Kilian Jornet. Summit reached on 22nd May 2023. 3 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 11081
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID EVER23125
Peak ID EVER
Year 2023
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 W Ridge-Hornbein Couloir
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Spain
Leaders Kilian Jornet
Sponsor Kilian Jornet Everest W Ridge Expedition
Success 1 False
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries France
Approach Namche->Pheriche->Everest BC
Basecamp Date 2023-05-15
Summit Date 2023-05-22
Summit Time -
Summit Days 7
Total Days 0
Termination Date -
Termination Reason 6
Termination Notes Abandoned at 8200m due to cracked rib from falling
High Point (m) 8200
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 1
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 3
Summit Members 0
Member Deaths 0
Total Hired 0
Summit Hired 0
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired True
O2 Used False
O2 None True
O2 Climb False
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep False
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(15/05,5350m),C2(07/05,6300m),xxx(25/05,8200m)
Route Notes Approach: EBC trail BC 15/05 5350m C2 07/05 6400m HPt 22/05 8200m (Hornbein Couloir) by Kilian Jornet Details: • Acclimatization: Jornet first came with his family to enjoy Khumbu for 3 weeks. Thus he had a very few stays at the BC (4 nights only). He first stayed with family in Namche Bazar, reached on 22 April; later they would go up as high as Pheriche. During this period, Jornet had a first round trip to C2 from Namche, on 25 April. When his family left, from the 12 May, the team would first stay between Pheriche and the BC. This knowing that after his first night at C2 (on 7 May) he knew that there was a collective throat infection occurring in the high camps, thus the team chose to stay quietly between Namche and Pheriche for a while, far from the contamination. On May 14, Jornet spent a second night at C2, coming from Pheriche. On the day after, he went up as high as the Geneva Spur (circa 7800m), then back down to Pheriche still on the same day. • Summit push: The intended (coveted) project was to achieve the first oxygen-less traverse of Everest via its West Ridge & Hornbein Couloir combination; then down via the SE Ridge normal route to the South Col; then traversing via the ledges of the Urubko variant to the normal route of Lhotse. On 20 May, Kilian and Bertrand went from BC to C2. On the 21 May, Kilian left C2 at 17h. Bertrand would follow him for a 100m above the camp to film his departure. Above in the facet giving access to the West Ridge, Kilian chose to climb a direct couloir option avoiding the longer traverse to the left used by the Americans in 1963. Sadly, the couloir was to be found in blue ice covered with a 20cms snow layer; facing such conditions, once he would made one step trough the snow, he would slide two steps downwards... All-in-all, it took him 10h instead of the planned 4h to touch the West Ridge, reached at circa 7400m and night time (circa 3 am). On 22 May in the morning, once he had reached the West Ridge, if conditions of the latter would prove to be perfect (hard snow), yet Jornet would have to face an unexpected 40/50 km/h north wind, not predicted by the weather forecast. In consequence, he would need to hide from it twice on the Nepali side of the West Ridge, in a first 2h pause, then further away in a 1h pause. During these, he could enjoy some 30m micro-siesta to rest a bit. The route section itself would happen to be very scenic, with its aesthetic snowy ridge and views towards both normal routes’ crowds going up. After reaching the small plateau located at circa 7520m afoot of the actual technical section start of the West Ridge (where most past expeditions had put their camp), Jornet started to traverse leftwards first via first a few rock buttresses to scramble, then long snowy slopes leading to the entrance of the Hornbein Couloir’s entrance (8040m), the latter reached at circa 15h/16h. From there, he started to ascend the couloir first trough its narrow entrance (not larger than 5m), then its not very steep slope (40° in average, with a few short buttresses at 45°), this until the couloir got broader at 8200m. If snow conditions proved to be still good, yet some kind of unconsolidated short snow patches, different from windslabs, would need to be crossed here and there, not being avoidable. Jornet thinking afterwards the recent north wind might have formed these. At about 16h30/17h, on one of these traps at 8200m he fell down on 50m. What to do, continuing or not? Jornet was physically well, felt very well acclimatized with great mental dispositions, and conditions were rather still good. Yet, the fall had shocked him enough for eventually renouncing. Moreover, he could feel some slight pain on his chest; possibly minored by the natural tension of the action, he first thought him to have just partially cracked a rib, but on the day after, the pain would be much more sensitive. Jornet eventually sent a short SMS to Bertrand Delapierre: ”Avalanche/(Feeling) OK/I go down”. The descent would prove laborious. Not long after he had started back down, it started to snow; with no more visibility (2m) and his ascent tracks erased, he would need to orientate most of the time with his GPS to avoid descending on the Tibet side. Then back to his 45/50° steep couloir of access to the West Ridge, knowing the latter poor aforementioned conditions, he would need to down climb carefully, eventually reaching C2 at 11 pm. On 23 May, the duet went back down to BC. From there, it got picked up by the helicopter back to Kathmandu. Practices witnessed on the normal route left both members astonished, with notably numerous helicopters flying around high camps for doing the taxi for inexperienced clients. Jornet might come back to try again that traverse, since he found the West Ridge itself to be a very quiet and aesthetic option within a reasonable AD/AD+ alpine grade range. Yet there are also numerous other projects on his list, including more exploration-orientated ones. Members: Kilian Jornet, HPt at 8200m. Bertrand Delapierre, film-maker. HPt as high as a 100m above C2, circa 6500m. Julien Raison, who was part of the team also as a second film-maker (He didn’t climb above BC). Fixed rope: EVER fixing team (to C2). Climb abandoned on 22/05 at circa 4:30-5 pm due to fall/slide. Sherpas above BC: 0 Oxygen: Not taken, not used. Route: West Ridge/Hornbein Couloir from C2 of the Nepali normal route. Records: Intended an alpine-style solo attempt of the Everest-Lhotse traverse. Accidents: 50m fall/slide at 8200m, one rib broken.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Seven Summit Treks
Commercial Route False
Standard Route False
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference False
Primary ID -
Checksum 2464495
Year 2023
Summit Success False
O2 Summary None
Route (lowercase) w ridge-hornbein couloir

Members

3 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Kilian Jornet Burgada M 1987 Spain Leader Hovden, Norway Runner & skier Details Other expeditions
Bertrand Delapierre M 1976 France Cameraman Passy, Haute-Savoie, France Film director Details Other expeditions
Julien Raison M - France Cameraman - - Details Other expeditions

References

2 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
EVER23125 - - https://explorersweb.com/everest-kilian-jornet/ - - -
EVER23125 - - https://explorersweb.com/kilian-jornet-survives-avalanche-everest-west-ridge/ - - -