[Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on our sister site, ExplorersWeb.]
Last week, after two prior attempts to set a fastest known time (FKT) on Mount Everest, runner and mountaineer Tyler Andrews launched a last-ditch attempt to achieve the fastest-ever no-oxygen ascent of the highest peak in the world, elevation 8,848 meters (29,032 feet). This third attempt was just three days after a previous one, and with the mountain about to close for the climbing season. Unfortunately, like his previous two attempts, the third one also ended before the summit. While he was initially moving at a pace that put the speed record within his grasp, after hours without communication and his live tracker apparently not moving, his team shared the news: Tyler had turned around at 8,450 meters (27,700 feet).
The route up the mountain extends from Everest Base Camp, located at 5,364 meters (17,598 feet) altitude, through the Khumbu Icefall, past Camps 1 through 4, and onto the South Col before climbing up onto the massive ridgeline extending to the summit. All told, the route is something in the vicinity of 13.5 kilometers (8.4 miles) long from base camp to the summit, with on the order of 3,500 meters (11,500 feet) of climb through mountaineering terrain of all kinds.
After three attempts to set an FKT on Mount Everest, Tyler Andrews was ultimately stymied in his ambitions. In this photo, Andrews trains in the Himalayas ahead of his attempts. All photos courtesy of Tyler Andrews.
Andrews, 35, has seen success in a variety of different disciplines across both running and high-altitude mountaineering. In 2021, he won the Javelina 100k, and that same year, he placed 15th at the Leadville 100 Mile. Earlier, in 2016, he placed second at the IAU 50k World Championships, and he was crowned the USATF 50-mile national champion when he won the Tussey Mountainback 50 Mile in 2019. In recent years, he’s focused more on big mountain efforts, and he currently holds the FKT for the round-trip climbs of 8,163-meter (26,781 feet) Manaslu and 6,812-meter (22,349 feet) Ama Dablam in Nepal. In 2023, he set FKTs on Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 meters/19,341 feet) in Tanzania and Aconcagua (6,961 meters/22,837 feet) in Argentina.
Now somewhat recovered from an exhaustion he says he has never before experienced, Andrews has explained what many were wondering: What happened up there on the third and final attempt?
The First Two Attempts
After spending weeks in the spring of 2025 training on the slopes of Mount Everest, Andrews made his first attempt on the mountain with no supplemental oxygen on May 10. Unfortunately, he got turned around by issues with his boot around Camp 3 at 7,200 meters (23,600 feet). He made a second attempt on the mountain on May 23, despite high winds raking the mountain. Andrews said his reason to head up despite the weather was the same that prompted Karl Egloff of Ecuador, also pursuing an Everest FKT, to start his own run just a couple of hours before Andrews. The “Icefall Doctors,” a team of Sherpas who maintain a series of ladders and ropes through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall, a feature created where the Khumbu Glacier breaks splits apart into massive, moving blocks over very steep terrain, wanted to close the route on May 25 due to warming conditions, which causes the ice to shift more rapidly.
“They said the icefall was moving too fast, there had been some collapses, and it was not safe,” says Andrews. He believed his only option was to go up or go home.
Because of the weather, Andrews decided to use supplemental oxygen, which can help mountaineers move faster and stay warmer at extreme altitudes, and try for the overall record on the mountain instead of the no-oxygen one. Andrews left Everest Base Camp on May 23 at around 8 p.m. local time. For safety, he started using supplementary oxygen at Camp 2.
“Meteorologists, doctors, my expedition leader, they all told me: Do not go up without oxygen, it is too cold, too windy, you will not reach the summit, and you will lose fingers and toes.”
Tyler Andrews during one of his many training and acclimatization climbs on Mount Everest.
Neither Andrews nor Egloff were successful. Egloff turned around shortly after Camp 3, and for Andrews, too, the wind ultimately ruled the day. Shortly after Camp 4, his expedition leader, Dawa Steven Sherpa, made the call to abort Andrews’ attempt and withdraw all his team from the mountain because of the high winds on the upper sections.
Andrews descended to base camp during the night of May 24 and flew to the Nepalese capital city of Kathmandu the following day, thinking he was ending his climbing season. When he hopped on the helicopter, he was sure there would be no more opportunities. But back in Kathmandu, something unexpected happened.
“We learned that the big Indian Army team had failed on their summit push on May 23, also due to high winds,” explained Andrews. “Because of their influence, [the Icefall Doctors would keep] the mountain open three or four days more.”
Snap Decision
Andrews said, “I didn’t feel like I had left all I had on the [previous] attempt, so when I returned to Kathmandu, I had a good night of sleep and woke up the next morning to hear that the Indian team was going on the May 27 in good weather. I immediately started thinking that another attempt was feasible and after a whole bunch of phone calls to Dawa, my family, and my team …we decided, well, ok, let’s give it a go!”
Andrews flew back to Everest Base Camp and set off that same night, May 26, on a no-oxygen run toward the summit of Everest.
Disaster at 8,000 Meters
“[On the final attempt,] everything went quite well until Camp 4,” Andrews explained.
He admits that his pace slowed between Camp 3 and Camp 4. Because on this last-minute attempt, he had less support and had to carry a much heavier backpack containing his high-altitude equipment. Instead of crew members at all the camps, as on his previous tries, on May 26 and 27, he had a support team at Camp 4 for emergencies, but otherwise, he was alone. That slowed him down a little, but otherwise had no bearing on his final decision.
Rather, something went wrong just after leaving Camp 4 at 7,950 meters (26,000 feet), some 12.5 hours after departure.
“I had one of my gels and vomited it immediately, which is something that had never happened to me before. Maybe it was the altitude or exhaustion, but probably I should have returned to camp and tried to eat something else.”
But Andrews chose to continue up, and soon he became unable to manage his remaining energy. “On all ultramarathons, losing the last two hours of nutritional income means you’re in big trouble,” he explained.
“Honestly, when I left Camp 4, I was sure there was no way I was not making the record,” Andrews said. “In the worst-case scenario, getting to the top would take me seven to eight hours, and that would still be under the record. But it was just so much slower than that.”
Tyler Andrews above the clouds on the slopes of Mount Everest.
Hallucinations in the Snow
“I ran out of gas, I was totally fried up there,” he admits. “Also, at that point, I had lost communication, so it was a very lonely stretch. I was above the Balcony [a flatter area on the long ridge to the summit of Everest] when I realized I was not going to reach the summit that day, and I didn’t even have contact with base camp.”
Still, he hesitated, but hallucinations finally convinced him to retreat.
“What really decided me to make the call was that I started having hallucinations from fatigue. I would look at the snow and see geometrical shapes and faces, stuff like that. I knew these things were not there, but I still could see them, and that was pretty alarming. In addition, the route above the Balcony is technical and exposed. I had never been there before, and I was totally on my own, with no one on the mountain. I decided I couldn’t have the record safely in that state, and my priorities are getting the record and getting back down safely; both things equally important.”
Andrews then turned around and made his way back to Camp 4. There, he rested and then continued down in order to cross the icefall and reach base camp the following night.
No External Pressure
Andrews denies he felt under any external pressure to bag the record.
“If anything, some people suggested I shouldn’t do the last attempt. All the pressure came from myself. I really, really wanted to do it.”
As for the physical strain of the two previous attempts, Andrews said he usually recovers quickly from intense efforts. He also felt that he had not used all his energy during the second attempt because the push was halted before he reached the summit.
While Andrews and Egloff have avoided commenting on each other, their respective May 23 attempts to run up Everest highlighted this as a race between two contenders. However, Andrews refuses to look at the challenge that way.
“Honestly, I never saw this as a competition; I knew Karl [Egloff] was there, I knew he had his own team and was attempting a similar FKT, but I had to keep focused on myself and my team. You can’t control what others do. It is not different from a marathon, in which you’re obviously not the only participant, but the best way to go is just try to run your best race.”
After two prior failed attempts, Andrews was eager to try a third time. He’s pictured training on the mountain.
Same Place Next Year?
After the impressive but heartbreaking effort, does Andrews want to try again in the future?
“If I can make it work financially, I will definitely be back,” he replied. “It is a huge cost in terms of money, energy, and time, but it’s an important project for me. I am 100% sure I am capable of it.”
Indeed, Everest is far from becoming cheaper or less commercial. Yet Andrews admits it is a very special place.
“I still feel that the Khumbu Valley and these mountains, which are the tallest on Earth, are very, very special. That said, there are an awful lot of people there, some of whom show less respect to the mountain and nature than I’d like to see. But I think most are there because they want to push themselves and experience being in such a unique place. To me, watching others strive tremendously hard for something they care about is super meaningful.”
Call for Comments
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