Horia Colibasanu, one of Romania’s top mountain climbers, is getting ready to climb the Everest (8,848m) without additional oxygen or the help of Sherpas.

The expedition is to start on April 7, representing the Romanian climber’s eighth ascent in the Himalayas, reports local Mediafax. He will follow the route Timisoara - Belgrade - Doha - Kathmandu - Lhasa - Tingri - Everest base camp - Everest advanced base camp.

Horia Colibasanu expects to reach the peak around May 18-22. His expedition partner will be German mountaineer Ralf Dujmovits, who in May 2009 became the 16th person, and the first German, to climb all the 14 eight-thousanders (peaks over 8,000 meters high). This time, the German will also try to climb the Everest without additional oxygen.

Horia Colibasanu is the Romanian with the most climbs over 8,000 meters, having climbed seven of the 14 eight-thousanders in the world. In 2004, he climbed the K2, the world’s second highest peak at 8,611 meters above sea level, without additional oxygen or the help of Sherpas.

He also climbed Manaslu (8.163m), Dhaulagiri (8.167m), Shishapangma (8.027m), Annapurna (8.091m), Makalu (8.463m), and Lhotse (8.516m).

Romanian Horia Colibasanu conquers Himalaya’s Manaslu peak for the second time

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com