

Samaya x Vadim Druelle
CLIMBING KANGCHENJUNGA

After his first feat on Manaslu in 2021, Vadim Druelle once again made high-mountain history. In May 2023, he climbed Nepal's Kangchenjunga, a mythical peak over 8500 meters high, by one push and without oxygen. Back in the Alps, Vadim tells us about his memorable expedition, in his own words.
What prompted you to embark on this expedition, in this place, and how did you prepare?
Vadim Druelle : For me, this mountain was a bit of a dream. I absolutely wanted to go there, whether it was windy, rainy, snowy, whatever, I wanted to set foot there, even if I didn't reach the summit. It's one of the most sacred mountains because it's forbidden from India. There's nobody there, it's very wild. I had sprained my ankle in the winter and could only do one or two weeks of preparation, so I did 6,000 metres of ascent in one week to train a bit.
Have you had moments of doubt?
VD I had my doubts because we made a first attempt where we took the wrong route, so we wasted a lot of time and energy. Except that at 8200 metres altitude, it's so physical that you don't enjoy going back and forth. When I reached the summit, it was special because I set off directly from base camp, while the others had been gone for three days, progressing camp by camp. I was alone, I had to retrace my steps and I thought I'd had it, especially with the 50 km/h wind forecast for 8am the next day. But I told myself I had to try anyway, as I only had 20kg on my back. I left super early and arrived at camp 4 at around 6.30pm. I ate quickly and made myself some water, because I could see the headlamps in the distance, already very high up. I had a headache, I'd been really tired doing the trace. I did a lot of breathing work, slowed down the pace for two hours and the headache went away. I was able to start going faster and at 8400 meters, I was doing 350 meters per hour, which I wasn't expecting at all. And then I finally made it to the top!
After all that energy and pushing yourself so hard, how do you feel when you finally get up there?
VD I was so happy, I was looking all over the place, it was magnificent, even if you don't realize it at the time. I didn't stay long, only 15 minutes, it was extremely cold, I was frozen. I had to get back down quickly, but I had to stay focused and lucid despite my fatigue.

How did you keep in touch with the outside world?
VD : I used to use the satellite phone, with a maximum of 160 characters and messages that arrived all out of sync. My sister Keva received all my messages.
Keva Druelle I received little messages that I forwarded to everyone. For their first attempt, communication went well, but for the second, he was supposed to arrive at 7am in Nepal, which was 3am for us, but we didn't receive his message of arrival at the summit until 6:30am. We were anxious. It was a real relief when the message finally arrived!
We can imagine. Do you have any plans for the future?
VD: Maybe do the fourteen 8000 meters, always as a one-shot. After that, I'd like to climb lower mountains with friends. And that's what I wrote when I was at the base camp, like for Manaslu and Kangchenjunga, above all the mountain has to choose you and inspire you.