November 24, Kathmandu: Marc Batard’s team just opened the alternative route to the dangerous Khumbu icefall. Marc Batard’s son Alan Batard and Yorick Vion’s “guide-in-training “has fixed the new 700m route.
It crosses the foothills of the Nuptse to an unclimbed little summit(5880 m) batard named it Sundare peak in homage to Sundare Sherpa who inspired Batard to climb Everest and break a speed record in 1988.
The team stopped at the point. The route then takes a snowy ridge with a vertical drop of 400 meters which arrives directly in the western valley where it is possible to reach Camp II they will fix it in spring.
Another base camp would have to be set up at Ghorakhshep(5,150 m) to take this route.
Lucien Boucansaud, Jean-Marc Demoz, Vincent Gouyet and Gérard Ménard is also included in the climbing team.
Sajid Sadpara the son of the late iconic Pakistani climber was also on the team but he fell ill on the way Marc Batard managed the evacuation of him.
According to Marc Batard in next spring, he will attempt Everest without oxygen, if he does he would be the oldest person to climb Everest without oxygen.
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