I caught up with German Alpinist Jost Kobusch, who now lives in Chamonix, France, to discuss his upcoming 2023/24 winter, no O’s, solo attempt of Everest’s West Ridge. No climber has reached the summit using this route and precise style. He will begin climbing on December 22, 2023, the beginning of the astronomical calendar winter. He will complete his climb no later than February 28, 2024.

In 2019, Jost reached his high point of 7,329-meters/23,750-feet. His second attempt in the winter of 2021/22 ended much lower, around 6300 meters/20,669 feet, when the jet stream moved over Everest bringing hurricane-strength winds to the area.

So he returns for his third climb, hoping to tag 8000 meters and get a good look at the Hornbein Couloir. He will pre-acclimatize on two 7000-meter peaks as part of his Altitude Academy, a training program of sorts open to anyone.

We cover a range of topics from what he learned from his previous attempts, his 2021 solo, the winter summit of Denali and even back to 2017 when he began climbing in this style in Pakistan’s 7296m high Nangpai Gosum II (great video on YouTube.) We also discuss what he’s doing differently this time, his style of solo, no O’s, and more. I think you’ll enjoy meeting this 31-year-old climber.

He sees three issues:

1. His physical condition
2. The mountain conditions
3. Weather

You can follow his climb on his website, which has an excellent 3D GPS tracking map using Zoleo, and also on his social media channels Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

Interview with Jost Kobusch

The Podcast on alanarnette.com

You can listen on Spotify, Apple, Google, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Anchor, and more. Search for “alan arnette” on your favorite podcast platform.

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