Skiing Mount Everest

For most, conquering Mount Everest is a largely vertical affair.  So spare a thought for Tomas Olsson and Tormod Granheim as they prepare to scale the iconic rock, and then ski the north face, from an altitude of 8848m.

Recently, I received the summary of the attempt below, and decided that it might be an interesting read to see what ski equipment one would choose for such an epic descent.  Unfortunately, at the time Tomas and Tormod were busy testing new equipment - touche - but Tomas has supplied details of the equipment used to descend Cho Oyu in Tibet from a height of 8201m.

SKIS

Atomic MX:11 (175 cm)
Turning radius: 24m
Weight: Around 2 kilos

BOOTS

Scarpa Laser Thermo
Weight: Just under 3 kilos

BINDINGS

Dynafit TOURLITE TECH
Weight: 330g

For photos see - http://www.tomasolsson.com

Full supplied details:

"Two Vikings are getting prepared. In about one year the ambition is to stand on the summit of Everest, take a deep breath in the thin air, point the skis toward Tibet and ski down the north face of Everest. The ultimate first ski descent from the summit of the highest peak in the world.

Swedish Tomas Olsson and Norwegian Tormod Granheim do not come empty-handed. Their ski adventures together have taken them to an 8000 meter high summit and down close to 60° steep slopes.

The most recent adventure, September & October 2004, was a ski descent of Cho Oyu (8201 meters) in Tibet. They both managed to make “clean” ski descents of the sixth highest peak in the world. They did not use supplementary oxygen and not high altitude porters during the expedition. In addition they managed to make an uninterrupted ski descent from the summit at 8201 meters to 6400 meters without using ropes or any other climbing gear.

- "I could see the north face of Everest from the summit of Cho Oyu. It was inspiring and I could feel how I was drawn towards Everest. After a magic moment on the summit I turned my back to Everest and skied powder on the summit plateau of Cho Oyu. It was incredible to ski powder above 8000 meters" - comments Tomas.

Tomas and Tormod both live in Chamonix in the French Alps. On a daily basis they train in the Mont Blanc region. They have made ski descents of steep classics as Couloir du Diable (50-55°) and the north face of Aiguille du Midi (50-58°)."

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