Everest Guide Adrian Ballinger Shares His Thoughts On Nepal's New Climbing Rules

The controversial new climbing rules from Nepal continue to be a source of much debate amongst mountaineers. As you'll recall, the Council of Ministers there closed out 2017 by adopting a series of new regulations that banned solo expeditions, blind climbers, double amputees, and those deemed "medically unfit" from Everest. This has of course been met with much criticism within the mountaineering community, as the rules do very little to make anyone safer and seem to have been conceived arbitrarily. Now, a well known Everest guide has weight in on the topic, and he has quite a bit to say to the Nepali government.

Adrian Ballinger, owner of Alpenglow Expeditions climbed Everest without oxygen this past spring and has summited that mountain a total of six times. In other words, he knows a thing or two about climbing in the Himalaya. In an interview that was posted to the Internet yesterday, Ballinger offers his thoughts on this current dust-up, basically saying that he expects the rules to not be enforced. He also chastises Nepali officials for creating what he calls a "Wild West" environment on the South Side of the mountain.

For years Ballinger guided clients from the Nepali side of Everest, but three years ago he made the jump to the North Side in Tibet instead. He says that he was tired of the knee-jerk reaction by the government in Nepal to trends on the world's highest peak. If an accident occurred that claimed several lives, they made wild proclamations about how they were going to make the mountain safer. If an extremely old or young climber was on Everest, they'd blow hot air about creating age limits. But while those kinds of regulations aren't necessarily bad, the problem is that they are almost never enforced.

In the article above, Adrian is quoted as saying, “So far, Nepal hasn’t had a single government official above base camp, so no rules they impose are followed.” That's a far cry from the Chinese side of Everest where the government installs the camps all the way up to C2 and fixes the ropes to the summit as well. On the South Side, that work is done by a collaboration of commercial climbing teams instead.

Ballinger goes on to offer his thoughts on what should be done to make climbing Everest safer, including imposing some standards in terms of training and experience, as well as protecting guides and Sherpas more fully. He also says that solo climbers should be allowed provided they aren't putting anyone else's life in danger. He goes on to point out that in the early 2000's there were only about a dozen companies operating on the mountain, now that number has climbed to more than 50.

It's an interesting look at what is happening in Nepal from a guy who knows the area well. Read the entire article here.

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Outside Tells Us What it Takes to Climb Everest without Oxygen

This year, more than ever, it seems that we heard a lot about climbers attempting Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen. Some were successful, others were not, but climbing the world's highest mountain without bottled O's has become the new high-water mark for experienced mountaineers. But just how difficult is it to ascend to such heights in such thin air? What do alpinists have to do to prepare for the attempt? Outside magazine has taken an in-depth look at what it takes to climb Everest in this fashion.

For this story Outside examines the #EverestNoFilters expedition of Adrian Ballinger and Corey Richards. For the second year in a row, the two men went to the North Side of the mountain to attempt summits without bottled oxygen. Last year, Richards was successful but Ballinger had to turn back, but this year Adrian finally completed the quest.

The duo shared their expedition on a variety of social media outlets, including the Strava platform, which keeps track of a variety of data from an athlete. That data is proving instrumental in learning just how they trained and what worked and what didn't along the way. In the Outside article we learn that Ballinger focused his conditioning on running at a casual pace, covering about 6 miles (9.6 km) per day, but with a lot of vertical climbing. He averaged more than 3000 feet (914 meters) of vertical gain each day as he prepared for the climbing he would face in the Himalaya. Furthermore, he would often carry a 65 pound (29.4 kg) backpack to simulate his load on the mountain.

But, preparing for such a strenuous climb goes well beyond just physical conditioning. As we learned in an article last week, Ballinger had to change his diet significantly in order to be more efficient at higher altitudes. It also meant a shift in mindset too, with a more focused approach on the climb. For Adrian, who runs Alpenglow Expeditions, that meant taking a step back from those operations so he could dedicate more time to his preparation.

Obviously the results speak for themselves. Ballinger was able to finally nab that elusive Everest summit without bottled oxygen, and now anyone who is considering making the same attempt can learn from his experience. Needless to say, it wasn't easy but the goal was achieved.

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How Adrian Ballinger Summited Everest Without Bottled Oxygen

One of the numerous interesting stories to come out of this year's spring climbing season on Everest was the success of Adrian Ballinger, who set out to summit the mountain without bottled oxygen. While Adrian has reached the summit of Everest six times throughout his career, he was determined to head back to the highest point on the surface of the Earth without using oxygen. This was a goal that eluded him last season but drove him to train harder and smarter for this year. This past weekend all of the hard work, planning, and preparation finally paid off, as he topped out in high winds on Saturday, May 27.

So what exactly did it take to get an already very accomplished and talented mountaineer to summit Everest without oxygen? That's the subject of a story from Men's Journal, which puts into perspective exactly how difficult it is to climb in the big mountains without supplemental oxygen, and the level of fitness needed to climb at such altitudes. It turns out, it isn't just about training and conditioning however, but so much more.

The story takes a nice, detailed look at how elite athletes perform at altitude, or in any active endeavor really. For instance, when Ballinger was making his summit push in 2016, he suddenly got very cold and had to turn back short of the top. Meanwhile, his climbing partner Corey Richards was able to push on and top out successfully. Both had trained in a similar fashion, both with were in top shape, and Ballinger may even have more experience than Richards. But, one was able to succeed where the other couldn't. What was the difference? As it turns out, it was about the way that Adrian eats and consume calories. Making a fundamental shift in his diet may have played a large role in improving his efficient and energy on the climb.

It is a fascinating article and provides lots of interesting tips for veteran and aspiring mountaineers alike, as well as endurance athletes who want to better understand how their bodies perform. It is also a good read for anyone who follows major expeditions like the ones we cover here at The Adventure Blog, as it gives some insights into what climbers and explorers put themselves through as they push their bodies to the limit. It may even help you to perform better on your own hikes, trail runs, and mountain biking rides.

Find out exactly what Adrian did to improve his performance by clicking here.

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