2002

Immediately following his stunning first Australian ascent of Manaslu, (see Manaslu) Andrew travelled quickly to Lhotse, arriving less than a week after his earlier summit. Making a solo attempt on this mountain, he rested in basecamp for just 2 days before venturing up its slopes. After an acclimatisation push where he tested his fitness and assessed the mountain, he waited for the right weather conditions before striking out for the summit of this, the world’s fourth highest peak. Andrew climbed straight through to camp 2, and the following day established camp 4 high on the Lhotse face, immediately adjacent to Mt Everest. Setting out at midnight he found the conditions to be ideal and made good time through the ever narrowing couloir on the upper west face of the mountain. Arriving at the summit in the early morning, he enjoyed spectacular views of Everest before descending into the gauntlet of the mountain’s falling rocks in the thaw of the morning sun.

With his arrival in basecamp the following day, Andrew set yet another Australian mountaineering record and achieved two 8000 metre summits in the same expedition for his second time, a feat as yet unrepeated even once by any other Australian.