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 Two
‘Vikings’ are getting prepared to try and ski down the north face
of Everest, a staggering 8848m.
The ambition of Swede Tomas Olsson and Norwegian
Tormod Granheim is to stand on the summit of Everest, take a deep
breath in the thin air, and point the skis toward Tibet and ski
down the north face - the ultimate first ski descent from the summit
of the highest peak in the world.
They are prepared, however - their
ski adventures together have taken them to an 8000 meter high summit
and down close to 60° steep slopes.
 Warming
up in Tibet
The most recent adventure in 2004, was a ski descent of Cho Oyu
in Tibet. They both managed to make clean ski descents of the sixth
highest peak in the world. They did not use extra oxygen or high
altitude porters.
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. Incredible to ski
powder above 8000 meters,” said Olsson.
Training and preparation
Tomas and Tormod both live in Chamonix in the French Alps and train
on a daily basis in the Mt Blanc region. They have made ski descents
of steep classics such as Couloir du Diable (50-55°) and the north
face of Aiguille du Midi (50-58°).
For more information head to Tom's
website.
[Source: Skipress.com]
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