He had the name of the mountain tattooed on his left forearm to immortalize his feat. Because yes, it is indeed a real feat that Alasdair Mckenzie achieved last week. With his team of Sherpas, this 19-year-old Franco-Scottish man managed to reach the summit of Cho Oyu in the Himalayas, the sixth highest in the world at 8,188 meters above sea level. By opening a new route on the Nepalese side, which is a bit of a holy grail for any mountaineer.
This is not the young man’s first attempt. A little over two years ago, he took on the challenge of climbing all 14 peaks over 8,000 meters and becoming the youngest person to achieve this astonishing feat. An XXL feat that he should complete by the end of the year with a final climb on the program. Back for a few days in his native Brittany, Alasdair Mckenzie took the time to sit at the bar of a hotel in Rennes to answer questions from 20 minutes.
You were born in Lorient, by the sea. Where does this passion for the mountains come from?
We are all mountain fans in my family. From the age of 2 I started skiing and we moved to Chamonix when I was 9. Then to Tignes where I have lived for seven years. I have always skied at a good level while always devoting time to the mountains. But during my last year of competition, I decided to hang up to devote myself fully to mountaineering. I first started with Mont-Blanc and quite a few peaks at 3,000-4,000 meters in the Alps to improve my skills. I then had the opportunity to go to Nepal to do a 6,000 and a 7,000. And there, I fell in love with the country, the expeditions, the Sherpa community. I then attempted my first 8,000, the Lhotse which peaks at 8,516 meters. At the summit, I was fine mentally and physically. I discussed it with my Sherpa to see if we could do a second 8,000. And nine days later, we were at the summit of Makalu, the fifth highest peak in the world.
And at 17, you took on the challenge of climbing the 14 highest peaks in the world…
The idea came to me on the way back on the plane. In the mountaineering community, many call it the Grand Slam. I call it “14×8000”. This has already been attempted, notably by Nirmal Purja who achieved it in 2019 at the age of 36. But no one has ever done it so young. I initially wanted to do it in two years, then in eighteen months before celebrating my 20th birthday. But there was an administrative blockage last year and that delayed the project a little.
How does this happen at very high altitude? It’s hard to imagine the effort and the suffering…
You must of course have an excellent physique, both cardio and muscular. Because on each expedition, we carry a 30 to 35 kilo bag on our back for several hours with oxygen, tents and ropes. Once up there, it’s very trying. We already feel it from 6,000 meters with our body slowing down. And it’s even worse above 7,600 meters, we call it the death zone. At these altitudes, the human body slowly dies, each step takes a long time and we never recover. We must add to this fatigue because we don’t sleep much, we don’t eat much, we don’t hydrate very well. On an expedition, I can lose 15 kilos. This is where the mind takes over.
How did this last expedition on Sho Oyu go?
This was done in several stages. Initially, I wanted to spend it on the Tibetan side this fall. But I had an administrative problem and I could not enter the region. We were supposed to go back this year but this time they closed the mountain because of the weather. We therefore changed our plans to climb it from the Nepalese side via its southwest slope, a route that had never been opened. At the end of May, with my team of six Sherpas, we made a first attempt for seven days. But we had to go back down to base camp because we were missing ropes and equipment. We finally left lighter and managed to reach the summit. It was really very long and tiring. But what a joy to be at the top with my whole team.
What does it feel like to open a route for a mountaineer?
It’s incredible because we’re making history. Especially since no one believed in us because mountaineers had been wanting to open this route for five years and no one succeeded. It was hard physically but also mentally because I managed the team, so I had to make the right decisions, both on the route and on the weather, so as not to put them in danger. But without them, I wouldn’t have succeeded either, it’s really teamwork. They trusted me as I trusted them. And I am very proud to have shared this dream with them, to have opened a road that no one had ever taken before. It’s now done and thanks to us, villages will be able to host expeditions.
When will the 14th summit, Shishapangma, be due?
In the fall I hope. We are already waiting to see if they will open the mountain. And if we have the green light, we’ll go straight there with my team. It is the last of the 8,000, it culminates at 8,013 meters. It’s not the most difficult but it is complicated to read. And it is also dangerous with the risk of avalanches.
Do you ever feel afraid?
Always. When you are in the mountains, you often come close to death. The worst for me was the ascent of Annapurna with avalanches every ten minutes. But anyway, you have to be afraid in the mountains. For me it’s a strength. Because being afraid allows you to remain 100% vigilant and make the right decisions at the right time. When I am no longer afraid, I will then ask myself questions.
How do you finance your expeditions because it must have a cost?
From the start, I refused to let my parents help me financially in view of the risks. For the first two climbs, I financed it thanks to my grandfather’s inheritance. I now have sponsors but I’m still looking for them. It happened to me in the middle of an expedition to have to read emails or sign contracts. It was a little complicated last year but it’s getting better.
What do you think of the YouTuber Inox Tag who allegedly climbed Everest?
So we don’t yet know if he really did it (laughs). But if that’s the case, I think it’s great. I just hope it doesn’t just show the summit photo. But I believe he planned a documentary showing all the steps and training which he took very seriously. It will surely inspire millions of people.
Mountaineering has become more popular and we sometimes see images of traffic jams on the summits…
It’s true that more and more people are taking on this challenge because few people thought before that it was feasible. For Everest, we indeed see these images of traffic jams but that is not it. It’s just that at 8,000 meters, no one can walk fast and we all slow down. And if we see so many people on the same rope, it’s because the weather windows are very small so everyone goes at the same time. But it’s the same on Mont-Blanc.
There is also the question of pollution with mountains that sometimes look like open air dumps…
I didn’t witness it much and I didn’t see many people leaving stuff up there. But it’s true that this is the case on camp 4 of Everest, largely because of old expeditions. They assumed that if a tent was broken, we left it there. Same for oxygen cylinders. But there are now regulations on waste and teams to clean up. This does not prevent it from remaining very polluted and I would like to set up an expedition to bring down as much waste as possible from this camp. So that future generations can see Everest as I saw it, majestic, and not as a mountain of trash.
Through this challenge, you also have a message to deliver to young people your age…
It’s about telling yourself that everything is possible. You just have to believe in your dreams, work hard and make sacrifices to become the best. That’s what I did and I have no regrets. Since I started this project, I’ve been totally into it, I only think about it when I wake up.