news : Moro scales Everest!

Simone Moro, Intermatica’s spokesperson for the Thuraya satellite telephone since 2002, set out on 20^th March in a bid to scale Everest without oxygen. He reached the summit on 24^th May, on what for him is his fourth successful climb.

"After just 48 hours of ascent I was on top of Everest, and then it was straight back to base camp. On 22^nd May, I was lucky enough – and strong enough – to be able to reach the top of the world for the fourth time. I had wanted to do it without using oxygen at all, and everything was going to plan. But after stopping at the South Col for a few hours’ rest before the final push for the summit, the weather deteriorated and it began to snow. It stopped after two hours, then the wind got up and the temperature plummeted. When I left the South Col I was fine, but I realised very quickly that the cold could give me real problems.

I hung in there without oxygen up to 8500 metres, but then I lost all feeling in my hands and feet. The risk then is of serious frostbite, which can often become incurable and all you can do is amputate.

At that point I decided to shelve my ambitious plan, although physically I was fine. I used some oxygen (I had brought a canister and a mask in my rucksack) and pressed on quickly up to the summit. For me this was my fourth ascent of Everest, but it was undoubtedly the clearest day of the three times I’ve come up from the Nepal side.

So I’ll have to come back for a fifth time to complete a climb without oxygen. Despite everything, I’ve got another amazing experience to look back on, with the joy of being free in such a magnificent place, knowing just how beautiful the view is from up there."