Jamie Laidlaw and Kris Erickson to attempt a ski descent of Lhotse couloir
Idaho’s Jamie Laidlaw set off for Nepal on Thursday to make the first tracks off the summit of Lhotse, the fourth-highest mountain in the world. He will be accompanied by Montreal’s Kris Erickson on this expedition. They will be joined by a film-maker, Hennie
van Jaarsveld. The Lhotse expedition is getting sponsored by The North Face and Revo.
Laidlaw, accompanied by Erickson and Jaarsveld, is expected to head off to Khumbu Valley from Kathmandu on Tuesday, 12th April. They will then hike to the base camp at Lhotse and stay there for almost a month to adapt to the conditions. The time
at the base camp will also allow them to evaluate the conditions and inspect the 5000-foot Lhotse Face. However, they will not be able to determine what kind of snow the couloirs contain and will be entering it completely clueless.
“It's hard because the only way you can see the couloir would be to take a flight or to be standing on the south summit of Everest,” Laidlaw said.
Even though the couloir is the most common path to climb up to the summit of Lhotse, it is not utilised that frequently. Most of the climbers are more interested in getting on top of Mount Everest, which is right next to Lhotse. Only a few attempt to climb
to the summit of the fourth-highest mountain. Mountain Everest and Lhotse share a common path till camp four. However, the route branches off from there and gets a lot more challenging.
Sharing his information about the route, Laidlaw said that the first 5000 feet are relatively flatter, around 48 degrees. Then the climbing becomes difficult as the steepness of the couloir increases to somewhere between 46 and 47. The steepness however,
decreases to somewhere in the 50s during the climb but only for a feet, after which it returns to the former steepness.
Lhotse has an elevation of around 27, 890 feet and is one of the few mountains that have been unclaimed by the big mountain skiers. The climb is not going to be easy at all, let alone the descent that Laidlaw and his companion plan on doing. The risk is
huge, as one small mistake during the climb and descent can prove to be very costly, even killing them.
This is now the first time for Laidlaw to attempt to ski down Lhotse. In 2007, he attempted to ski down the pencil couloirs, just 2000 feet below the summit ridge. However, the run came to an abrupt end very early when his oxygen tank malfunctioned, forcing
him to pull out around 800 feet from the starting point.
Laidlaw hopes to take care of business once and for all this time. His companion Erickson was the first American man to ski an 8000-meter peak and will be bringing his own share of experience with him. The 30-year-old Idahoan had ached for another shot at
the Lhotse for a long time.
“Whether it happens or not, it's one last attempt and I can put it to bed knowing that I've tried it twice.” He concluded.
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