On July 10, Vadim Druelle climbed Nanga Parbat, 8126 meters, without bottled oxygen. He reports a record time of 15 hours and 18 minutes to climb from base camp to the summit, a total vert of over 3,900 meters. A further fast 8000 meters peak and no mean feat for the young Frenchman.
He had one of the worst experiences of his life in the Himalayas this spring, and he himself never thought he’d be standing on the summit of an 8000 a few months later. At Annapurna base camp in Nepal last March, Vadim Druelle suddenly suffered from altitude sickness and ended up in hospital in Pokhara, in the valley. The gifted young altitude climber – 23 years old and already having completed several 8000m summits without oxygen, including the Kanchenjunga – narrowly escaped pulmonary oedema. On his return to France, he treated himself, recovered and, above all, found out how acute mountain sickness can happen. And off to Pakistan. His objective? Nanga Parbat, 8126 m.
Vadim Druelle at Nanga Parbat ©Coll. Druelle
The Nanga has the particularity of having a relatively low base camp altitude of 4,200 meters, which makes it all the more difficult to climb to the summit, at 3,925 meters. It was on this summit that Franco-Swiss Sophie Lavaud completed her quest for the fourteen 8000s.
As for Vadim Druelle, he chooses his preferred style: fast and light, rather on normal routes, but without supplementary oxygen. He carries his tent on acclimatization rotations, then gallops to the summit when the weather’s fine. He explains: “After more than a month at base camp, waiting for the right weather window and acclimatizing with compatriots, I set off solo and unassisted. It took me 5h30 to reach camp 3 (6800m), then when I opened my tent, which was practically broken under the snow, I lost my down pants… It tumbled down the slope in front of my eyes, and I thought it was all over!”
I didn’t think I could do it, I was very, very cold.
But it takes more than that to demotivate him. After an hour’s break to eat and melt snow, Vadim Druelle continued on to the summit, wearing light pants.
“Early in the morning, around 7am, I reached the summit of Nanga Parbat 8125m, with 45km/h wind. I didn’t think I’d make it, I was very, very cold. Minus thirty degrees in my underwear, I can guarantee you it’s no picnic! Then I rushed back down to C3 to dismantle my tent, which got eaten by the crevasse and took me over 3 hours to get out… After 26 hours of effort, I arrived at base camp.
On July 10, nine people reached the summit of Nanga: 4 Sherpas, five clients of Seven Summits Treks (SST), including Vadim Druelle, who benefited from their logistics. The day before, on July 9, 2 Sherpas and 2 Pakistanis from SST had reached the summit and placed the fixed ropes to the top.
Vadim Druelle set an extraordinary time for the ascent of the Pakistani giant: 15 hours and 18 minutes for the ascent, from base camp to summit, without additional O2. He sets a new ascent record, previously held by François Cazzanelli from Val d’Aosta, who took 20 hours to get from base camp to the summit in 2022.