A SPANISH mountaineer has crowned Everest without oxygen or fixed ropes in just one hit – despite having to 'stop every two steps' because of an upset stomach.
Catalunya-born Kilian Jornet reached the summit just 26 hours after leaving Base Camp, a climb of 6,500 metres.
Kilian climbed the world's second-highest mountain from the north face, reaching the peak at 8,848 metres above sea-level around midnight local time on Sunday, and had to stay there until Monday morning because of pains in his stomach and starting to feel ill after around 7,700 metres.
He had originally planned to return to Base Camp, near the old Rombuk monastery at 5,100 metres above sea-level, on the same night, but what he believes to be 'a stomach virus' meant he abandoned the idea and stayed put near the top.
Everest was the final goal in Kilian's Summits of my Life project, which started with Mont Blanc in 2012 and led onto Cervino before he crossed the pond and scaled Denali and Aconcagua in North and South America respectively.
This is the second time he had planned to crown Everest, but the first trip in September had to be put off due to adverse weather conditions.
“Climbing to the summit of Everest without fixed ropes isn't something you can do every day,” Kilian remarked.
“I saw a spectacular sunset and, finally, at around midnight, reached the peak.
“I was on my own, but I saw the lights on the north and south faces of expeditions which had already started.
“Immediately after taking photographs, I started the descent again to ABC [Advanced Base Camp],” Kilian explained.
