Skiing From the Top of the World

by Jason Hendricks

	Photographer: Peter Zaharov

Mt. Everest has become a symbol of achievement and pride for anyone who has dared to take up the challenge. In 1953 when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first set foot on top of the 29,035 foot peak, Hillary exclaimed “Well, we knocked that bastard off.”

In 2007, roughly 500 people managed to land themselves on top of Mt. Everest. Perhaps it hasn’t become any easier but with advancements in acclimatization and protection from the elements, it has become safer. The death ratio has fallen dramatically over the years from one in four, to roughly one in 70 this year.

With more people attempting to climb Mt. Everest now than at any other point in history, it was only a matter of time before someone would try to accomplish the unthinkable…skiing down.

The first attempt came in 1996 by well known mountaineer Hans Kammerlander. Kammerlander had been working with Reinhold Messner in the Himalayas. He grew up on skis. Once the summit of Everest was in sight, it felt natural to strap on the boots and get down as quickly as possible.

Kammerlander succeeded in not only skiing down the North Side of Everest, but he also set world records for a speed ascent and descent in the process. Hans couldn’t lay claim to all 29,035 feet though. On the North Side of Everest, toward the top of the peak, there were areas of sheer rock that just could not be skied around.

The first “uninterrupted” ski descent on Mt. Everest came four years later in 2000. Davo Karnicar, a climber from Slovenia, put his boots and skis on while standing on the summit. After more than an hour on the summit preparing and snapping photos and such, Karnicar set off down the standard South-East Ridge Route.

The time that it takes a climber to get from the highest camp on Mt. Everest to the summit is roughly eight hours. To get back down to high camp, and what many people consider out of the danger zone, it takes 4. Karnicar was able to go from the summit completely down to base camp in under 5 hours. Karnicar had set a precedent on Mt. Everest and proved that it could be done.

The following year, 2001, saw the first snowboard descent from the summit. Dr. Stefan Gatt, an experienced snowboarder, would make Extreme Sports history as well as a little Everest history for himself on this day.

On May 22, Dr. Gatt had positioned himself well ahead of a pack of climbers following. He was on the summit of the world’s highest peak, alone. Strapping on his boots, locking his bindings, and finally hopping onto the board and pushing off, he headed down. Gatt had been thinking of this moment for almost a year. Kammerlander had been his inspiration. Stefan made it to just below the Third Step at 8,650 meters before having to abort the ride.

Actual success in snowboarding from the summit of Mt. Everest to Basecamp would come a mere 24 hours following Dr. Gatt’s attempt. Marco Siffredi, at the time of this amazing feat, was one of the world’s foremost Extreme Snowboarders. On May 23, 2001 Siffredi strapped into his Elan snowboard. He then proceeded to make an amazing descent in two and a half hours. At one point a binding broke lose, but he stopped and was able to fix the problem before continuing down.

Sadly the following year, Siffredi would be killed trying to attempt a second snowboard descent of Mt Everest down a slightly tougher route.

Skiing or snowboarding down Mt. Everest can be done. It has been done. In essence, Mt. Everest could essentially be the toughest place to ski on the planet. We have seen this with the story on Marco Siffredi.

Guide books now publish routes that have been skied or snowboarded successfully on Everest. Don’t let it fool you. In 2007 there were 9 known deaths on Mt. Everest, all of them experienced climbers or sherpas. Lock into the bindings of a snowboard or a pair of skis and the danger goes up ten-fold. Definitely not a challenge for the weak of heart.