‘Art of Survival’: Alpinist Finds Zen in Extreme Danger

In extreme alpinism, you should always be ready to improvise. That’s the wisdom handed down by German climber Jost Kobusch, who’s currently pushing the sport’s boundaries with a long-term project trying to reach the summit of Mount Everest. But wait, you say, don’t hundreds of people climb Everest every year?

Yes, but no one has climbed it like Kobusch. The 32-year-old wants to achieve the summit of the world’s highest mountain in winter, alone and without the benefit of supplemental oxygen. He’s also trying it via the West Ridge, a rarely climbed technical route that’s difficult even in sunny summer months.

Just attempting such a feat requires intense training and preparation, highly technical gear — and a mindset ready to improvise, Kobusch said in an interview with GearJunkie last week.

Case in point: Kobusch was climbing a sheer ice wall on Christmas Eve, testing out a technical section near his first campsite when he realized that he’d accidentally brought old, worn-out crampons. That forced him to put more body weight on his shoulders, as the ice axes were the only points keeping him from a very long fall.

Alpinism is improvisation, Kobusch says — but it’s also about patience. He doesn’t think he’ll complete his project this winter season, his third on the Himalayan mountain in 5 years. But that’s okay with him. He’s more certain than ever that his goal is achievable. Last week, he reached 7,537 m, a new high point above the previous West Ridge record set in 1984. But that was with a full team of French climbers. Kobusch is up there all alone — just the way he likes it.

GearJunkie: How are you feeling after your latest high point? Do you think you’ll go back up again this season?

Kobusch: I’m resting and considering right now. I’ve missed a considerable amount of training, and I’m not in my best shape, and that means more risk that comes with being less fit and, at the same time, missing so much training. I don’t think there’s a real shot at the summit this season. 

GJ: How are you feeling compared to your two previous attempts in 2019 and 2021?

Kobusch: I’m missing so much training. I was doing 5,000 steps a day at the beginning of the year. It was a lot of recovery. I’m grateful that I’m here now and I can climb … I wanted to have an attempt last season. I had everything prepared. And a week before the flight to Nepal, I injured my back in training. I did a traverse of Mont Blanc. (I live in Chamonix.) It’s a nice thing for some pre-acclimatization. I experienced strong pain in my leg, and it turned out I herniated a disc. 

I thought I was doing everything right. But I guess we all do some mistakes. And later on, I figured out that I wasn’t doing enough strength training. It was a big learning experience. It was so severe I couldn’t walk for some days. I did a rehab process from this. Right now, I’m just basically 90% back to normal. But I’m missing the hours of endurance training.

GJ: So you think it’s smarter at this point to wait for another winter season?

Kobusch: Intuitively, I’m probably leaning toward being smart instead of following my ego. The major learnings and takeaways I’ve already taken. I went out there in alpine style very fast and very precise. The project becomes more and more possible. The puzzle pieces come together, and the picture keeps forming. I feel confident in the route. If I come back, it’s for the same project.

GJ: With your latest high point, do you think this is the highest on Everest that anyone has achieved in this solo style without supplemental oxygen?

Kobusch: I think it’s fair to say. This is the highest point in winter on the West Ridge. It doesn’t matter how. Not even with 100,000 Sherpas. It’s the highest somebody has ever been in the winter. They had a big team in 1984, and they went to 7,500 meters. So, my goal was to go a tiny bit higher. It was a good benchmark. 

Now if we look at Everest in general, I think nobody has reached on Everest the altitude I’ve reached in the style that I’ve done it. The way I’m doing it, you could call it modern. I can be almost certain that no one has been at that altitude on Everest in this style. I’m in a very good spot where I’m a professional athlete and I can try these things. In the minds of some traditional alpinists, this is highly unusual.

GJ: What keeps you coming back to Mount Everest in winter? What about this experience is so attractive to you?

Kobusch: I guess it’s the hardest thing that I can possibly imagine, and therefore, it’s the best way to grow as an alpinist. Right now, I’m not the alpinist I need to be to climb Everest solo on the West Ridge. I’m building skills to become that alpinist, and that’s what I love about it. 

GJ: It sounds like you’re embracing the process. Would you say that’s what you’re focused on right now?

Kobusch: I would agree that I enjoy building skill and the transformation. I enjoy the process. In the end, if you achieve the goal, you kill it. And then you need to create a new one. So I think I intentionally chose a goal that’s long-lasting and can give me something to pursue for a long time. 

In the end, I’m just climbing some meaningless, ice-covered pile of rocks. And the way I give meaning to it is about what I can do with it. We don’t know how it looks up there in winter and that’s really exciting.

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GJ: I saw on Instagram that you designed your own tent for this project. Can you tell us about that?

Kobusch: I needed a tent that was very strong. The limiting factor is the wind. We can have winds up to 250 mph here. So the tent needs to be strong, like a bunker, but still light. On top of that, you need a small footprint. A big tent won’t fit on a wall. And I couldn’t find anything that fit what I needed. 

Last expedition I destroyed five tents, including one from a manufacturer that made it specifically for me. And it was destroyed very quickly. (There’s a vid on Instagram about it.) The only tent that kinda survived was one of the prototypes I developed, which I used on this expedition. It’s a single-wall, so it has condensation issues, but this is as perfect as it gets for what I’m doing. You can also set it up from the inside. 

GJ: How cold is it when you’re up on the wall? And what are you wearing to withstand it?

Kobusch: Not so cold. Maybe up to -40. I climbed Denali in the winter and that’s cold. I had to open my eyes with my fingers. That was -70. Denali is colder but not as windy. I’m also using specially developed prototype clothing that I developed. Since this is so cutting-edge, I need highly technical gear. I work with Black Yak. I have this amazing engineering team behind me there to help make this project possible. 

My first layer is Black Yak merino from the website. The second layer is a onesie suit made from Polartec Alpha. Then over that, I wear a G-LOFT. It’s an Austrian product similar to PrimaLoft, but higher performing. And over that, my final layer is another windbreaker layer. This layering system allows me to adjust to the different climates on the mountain. In order to adjust to all of these climate zones, the suit can be worn half-off.

In winter expeditions, you don’t want to sprint. In the Armed Forces, they say in winter combat, ‘you sweat, you die.’ You really need to regulate the climate a lot. You don’t want to sweat at all.

GJ: Even with all that preparation, you’ve said alpinism is about improvisation. What do you mean by that?

Kobusch: It’s like when I forgot the correct crampons that day. You’re organizing so many things, and sometimes you go, ‘Shit, I left the crampons.’

Alpinism is a journey into the unknown. It’s when you lack certain information. When you do a first ascent, you don’t know exactly what the summit looks like. There are lots of question marks. It’s like a riddle to solve in a way. You can try to execute it as perfect as possible, but there’s always human error.

If you drop an ice screw, as a good alpinist, you need to compensate for that loss with the tools and experience you have. It’s never going to be perfect. That’s part of it. Good alpinists have the ability to improvise and, through knowing different techniques, make up for that. There’s always something going wrong. 

Even on Denali, I felt like I was executing perfectly. I was totally focused. I went straight to the summit. And then GPS died. Then you have to go back to using the watch. And if the watch says it lasts for over 50 hours, but it’s extremely cold — make that 30 hours. In the end, alpinism is the art of survival. And that means you have to have a wide spectrum of knowledge if you want to survive.

GJ: Reinhold Messner called alpinism the “art of suffering.” Do you agree?

Kobusch: I don’t believe I go there to suffer. I go there to be free of suffering, interestingly. I believe suffering comes from attachments. Being attached to the idea of going to the summit or the idea of not feeling pain. All these attachments. That’s what creates suffering in the end. I try to have a Zen-like approach. I’m just there, and I just try to exist without these attachments. 

When I reach a very deep flow, I’m exercising skill in the highest form. Experiencing this mastery and being there. To me, it’s kind of like a deep meditation. I come back, and I find that it really helps me to provide meaning to my life. I feel like I come back a better man. I’m just striving to have a full human experience. Pain is the other side of joy. I don’t think I seek the pain. I seek the struggle and the development as a human. 

GJ: Those are some deep thoughts!

Kobusch: Some people call me the philosopher alpinist. I always had questions as a young man and I feel like I was looking in the mountains. I feel like I figured it out for myself. I’ve figured out how to live a happy life, and I think that’s something.