Everest legend Marc Batard may abandon safer summit route due to lack of funding
The 72-year-old mountaineer, famed for his record ascent without oxygen, says his years-long mission to chart a life-saving path around Everest's deadly icefall is in jeopardy without government support
Marc's Facebook
French mountaineer Marc Batard, famed for scaling Mount Everest without oxygen in record time, says he may abandon his years-long mission to open a safer route to the summit after running out of funding. Batard, 72, announced the setback in a Facebook post after returning from Nepal, saying his team could not complete the work without government support.
Since 2022, Batard and his team have been charting an alternative route to Everest’s summit that avoids the treacherous Khumbu Icefall, a shifting river of ice that has claimed dozens of lives. His proposed path hugs the base of Mount Nuptse, east of the traditional southeast ridge used by most commercial expeditions. The route could offer climbers a way to bypass one of the most dangerous sections of the ascent.
“We worked tirelessly to equip this new high-altitude path, which could eventually save lives,” Batard wrote. “But unfortunately, for lack of resources, we were unable to finish the job.”
Batard, who in 1988 became the first person to summit Everest in under 24 hours without supplemental oxygen, said he is now at a crossroads. “After all these years of commitment, I am seriously considering ending this beautiful adventure—unless the Nepalese government finally commits to financing the project,” he said.
Alongside his Himalayan efforts, Batard also raised a personal plea: he has written to French President Emmanuel Macron to intervene in his husband's stalled citizenship process. Batard’s Brazilian spouse has twice been denied French naturalization despite their 10-year marriage. “It is thanks to him that I found the strength to return to the Himalayas,” he said. “Yet he is still not recognized by my own country.”
