KATHMANDU, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- German climber Jost Kobusch, 29, is trying again to scale Mt. Qomolangma in winter from the Nepali side through a new southwest route and without supplementary oxygen, the company organizing his expedition said Friday.
"Kobusch has reached the Base Camp and is preparing to go to Camp I of the new route," Rishi Bhandari, managing director of Satori Adventures, told Xinhua.
A day earlier, Kobusch wrote on his Facebook account that he was reorganizing his luggage.
The German climber reached a point of around 7,300 meters in his first attempt on the 8,848 meter-high Mt. Qomolangma in winter last year. "He is attempting to climb Mt. Qomolangma through a new route without any support from Nepali Sherpa guides," said Bhandari.
"There will be no classic base camp this year," Kobusch wrote on his Facebook account. "So no camp with cooks, food tent and cooking tent, but just my small tent. This means significantly less equipment."
The German has been exploring a new route on the west ridge of the mountain without supplemental oxygen.
Some Spanish climbers have been trying to conquer the world's highest peak in winter without oxygen in the last few years.
Poland's Krzysztof Wielicki first climbed the peak in the dead of winter on February 17, 1980. The last successful winter ascent from the Nepali side, according to Nepal's Tourism Department records, was made by Japan's Shinsuke Ezuka on December 20, 1993.
According to Bhandari, Kobusch will move ahead by fixing ropes by himself, meaning it will take more time, and the German plans to summit Mt. Qomolangma in February next year.
Before he left for Mt. Qomolangma, the German had climbed Purbung (6,500m) in western Nepal as part of his acclimatization effort. Earlier, he had scaled Mt. Lhotse (8,516m), Mt. Annapurna (8,091m) and Mt. Amadablam (6,814m) without the support of Sherpa guides, Bhandari said.
Nepal's Department of Tourism issued a climbing permit for Kobusch on December 7. "He is the only climber to receive a climbing permit for Mt. Qomolangma for this winter so far," Bhishma Raj Bhattarai, an officer at the mountaineering section of the department, told Xinhua.
No other individual or group has applied for a permit to summit Mt. Qomolangma in winter so far, according to Bhattarai.
Three winter expeditions planned to climb Mt. Qomolangma last year, but they were called off due to the threat of avalanches.
In Nepal, the winter season officially ends on February 28. Enditem
