Fastest Journey Thus Far from the Sea to the Top of the World?

Andrew Ushakov has become the fastest person to go from sea-level to the summit of Sagarmatha (the world’s highest mountain), if a social media post is anything to go by. 


Elite Exped, the expedition organizers, posted on its Facebook page that Ushakov completed the journey in just 3 days, 23 hours and 7 minutes, a rare feat, given that it Everest climbs normally take “50+days, largely because of the acclimatisation period”. Andrew did hypoxic training beforehand as part of his mission preparation – spending 400+hours in a hypoxic tent to help acclimatisation. 

Per the post, Andrew started his challenge from the sea level, starting at New York on May 15 at 00.30 am and flying to Kathmandu, and then flying to the Everest Base Camp. Then he and his team climbed from Base Camp and stood on the summit of Everest on May 19 at 9.22 am, completing the journey in 3 days, 23 hours and 7 minutes and setting a new benchmark in what is possible for humans to achieve. 

Per the post, Andrew used traditional bottled oxygen for the climb from Base Camp to the Summit.

Elite Exped wrote: This is a triumph, not just for Andrew, but for everyone who believes in their dreams. Andrew only started climbing in 2020, he is a father and multiple business owner. He is not a full-time athlete, which makes this feat even more impressive.

Andrew’s Sea to Summit journey saw many challenges along the way, including breaking his shoulder in an avalanche just months before this epic challenge. Working closely with Andrew and his doctors, our team, including guide @tejan.g, were able to put extra safety precautions in place to ensure he could climb with us in the safest way possible.

Andrew is now safely down the mountain and on his way he and the team removed waste from the Camps as they went. Truly inspirational.

The organizers have also congratulated the team, who supported Andrew’s record, including Tejan Gurung (TJ), Pur Bahadur Gurung (Yukta), Bidhan Shrestha, Sujal Gurung, KiTemba Sherpa, Pemba Chhewang Sherpa, porters and the base camp crew.