EVEREST NORTH FACE: Ultimate First Descent
This spring, Swede Tomas Olsson, 29, and Norwegian Tormod Granheim, 31, (accompanied by photographer Fredrik Schenholm) plan to ski the North Face of Everest. If they succeed, they will be the first to ski the legendary route. After a powder day off the Aguille du Midi, Tomas sat down with us at a café in his home town of Chamonix and introduced himself.
When did you start thinking about skiing the North Face of Everest?
Olsson: We started thinking about it in 2002, but realized it was too early. We weren’t experienced. We decided to do some other peaks and feel ready.
Where was your first expedition?
Olsson: Aconcagua. I did that with the partner I will be skiing Everest with, Tormod Granheim and Jonas Malmqvist. We had spent a lot of time skiing in the Alps together.
How did the trip go?
Olsson: Well, you could tell it was our first expedition. We experienced some altitude problems, we didn’t have enough food. It went from really cold to really warm. But we got up and successfully skied the Polish Glacier direct line.
What expeditions followed that?
Olsson: I climbed and skied Peak Lenin in Kyrgyzstan with snowboarder Niklas Hallstrom. In 2003 I did Kuksay Peak (7186 m in 24 hours) and in 2004 we skied Cho Oyu in Tibet.
When did you start climbing?
Olsson: I didn’t start climbing or skiing until I was 15. I started sport climbing. Then really got into it after university.
What did you go to school for?
Olsson: I went to university in Sweden for seven years for a degree in industrial engineering and management. Then I spent four seasons in the Alps—St. Anton, La Tigne, Cham. I spent some time in Barcelona rock climbing. Then I moved to Cham for good.
When will you start the Everest expedition?
Olsson: We were hoping to start the climb on April 2. Weather being be the main factor, of course. But now we are moving the date to March 29th because there might be a big blockade in
Nepal for two weeks starting the April 3rd. The plan now to be out of Nepal by then.
How are you spending your last month training?
Olsson: A lot of touring around Chamonix. Ski touring is the best training. We’ll be doing some alpine climbing as well. At the end of this month we’ll do more high altitude skiing. Everest will be long days. We have to ready for 18-24 hour days.
What will be more difficult, the climb or the ski? Olsson: The most difficult part of the trip is the elevation. You have to know how your body and mind work at high altitude. The ski is extremely steep. We will need good conditions. But the descent should be easier than the climb.
What are your biggest concerns?
Olsson: It’s so high, everything is extremely slow. It’s very, very exposed and your head isn’t really clear. Even when you are moving slow, you have to think a lot about every move. We are giving ourselves quite a large margin of time and a lot of time to get down. We have 5-6 weeks to wait for good weather. The odds are quite low that the ski down will be doable—that there will be enough snow on the north face—so we will be quite lucky if we are able to do it. So all that together creates some concerns. But at the same time, we are well-prepared for this trip. It’s not a do or die; we are going to be smart about it. Everyday skiing in Chamonix is a potential risk.
How important is it to have the right partner for a trip like this?
Olsson: It’s really important to know each other. We did a lot of prep work together. We take pretty much the same risks. When things go wrong, you have to be able to rationally sort it out together.
What route are you taking?
Olsson: We aren’t sure yet. Our preferred route is the Norton Couloir. There’s also the North-east ridge and the Hornbein Couloir.
Will you use oxygen?
Olsson: We haven’t decided. We’ve never used it before. You can get it when you get there, so we’ll decide then.
I have to ask, why?
Olsson: Of course it’s the highest peak in he world. There’s such an aura surrounding it, so much history. 20 people or so have tried to ski and either have not reached the summit
or there was not enough snow for the decent. I saw the north face of Everest from the summit of Cho Oyu and felt drawn to it.
Check back next month for live dispatches from the expedition.