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Canadian Nancy Hansen Attempting Everest From Tibet

Nancy Hansen will be heading to the north side of Mount Everest to attempt the Norton Couloir in the spring of 2015.

Hansen will be teaming up with German alpinist Ralf Dujmovits for the attempt. They will be climbing without supplemental oxygen. Only five women have climbed Everest without supplemental oxygen and none were from North America.

The first North American woman to climb Everest was Canadian Sharon Wood in 1986.

Hansen’s Everest fundraiser party in be held in Canmore on Feb. 27.

Hansen is well-known for having climbed the Kallen 34 on Yamnuska and the 54 11,000ers of the Canadian Rockies. In 2014, she was awarded the Guy Lacelle Pure Spirit Award.

Over the last decade, Hansen has gone on to climb 46 of the 50 routes in the book The 50 Classics Climbs of North America. She has climbed more than anyone else.

Read an interview with the low profile Dujmovits 

Also heading to Everest’s north side in 2015 is Raphael Slawinski with a team to attempt an unclimbed line.

Mount Everest from the North. The Norton Couloir is on the left and the Hornbien on the Right  Source Explorers Web
Mount Everest from the North. The Norton Couloir is on the left and the Hornbien on the Right Source Explorers Web

Everest 3D

The Norton Couloir is an obvious gash on the north face of Everest in Tibet. The line ends within 150 metres of the summit. It is similar to the better-known Hornbein Couloir, which was used by the Canadian Light Team in 1986, which Wood was part of.

The Norton Couloir is named for Edward Felix Norton who in June 1924 soloed the route to 8,570 metres with no supplemental oxygen. It inspired Messner to first solo Everest in 1980 without extra oxygen. The route avoids the dangers of the corniced ridges.

everest
Everest Fundraiser

 

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