Nobukazu Kuriki(33) - One-fingered Japanese climber thwarted short of Everest summit

 

Nobukazu Kuriki, a Japanese climber who lost eight fingers and one of his thumbs to frostbite in 2012, had inspired the mountaineering world with his effort to climb the world's highest peak -Mount Everest

He had told followers watching him live blog his attempt on Facebook that he would be making his final push from the topmost camp, at 7,600-700 metres (25,000 feet), on Saturday night Sep 26,2015

But on Sunday morning Sep 27,2015 he put out a statement saying he had decided to descend.

“I left the final camp a little after 8pm on 26th for summit push,” he wrote. “I tried hard taking all my energy, but it took too much time to move in deep, deep snow.
“I realised if I kept going, I wouldn't be able to come back alive, so I decided to descend.
“Thank you so much for all your support. I appreciate you all from bottom of my heart. I'm so happy to be able to challenge again to Mount Everest even after I lost 9 fingers by frostbite.”

It was an unsuccessful fifth attempt by Mr Kuriki on Everest in the past six years.