MountEverest.net) He climbed 7, 8000ers with Messner and skied down Everest, but says that his traverse of the two Gasherbrum sticks out most. "This level of difficulty can be upped only through the Everest-Lhotse traverse," Hans Kammerlander told PlanetMountain, "it would be the next step, perhaps a thing for the next generation."

This spring, a remarkable 'true' Lhotse-Everest traverse will be attempted - by no other than the Kazakh National Team coached by Ervand Tikhonovich Iljinsky.

The plan

The traverse has been a dream climb for many strong mountaineers, including climbers such as Simone Moro and Denis Urubko.

Climbing two 8000ers back to back within a day or two puts an incredible stress on the human body, and in this case the world's highest mountain (Everest 8848 meters) and 4th highest mountain (Lhotse 8516 meters) are both involved. The climb is a gamble with weather, and a serious test of the human spirit and mountaineering skills.

Iljinsky told ExWeb's representative in Kazakhstan Andrey Verkhovod that the Kazakhstani national team plans to make the first true traverse of Lhotse - Everest and although the exact route is still debated, the main components are:

- Ascent to Lhotse via the normal route from the South
- Descent to South Col (8000 m)
- Ascent to Everest via the classic route from the South Col.

The team and the route

The team will likely descend from Everest summit via an alternative route such as the US western route, but not via the normal route back to the South Col. This will make it a true traverse; that is starting from one point and ending at another point with no repetition of any points during the entire climb on the traverse route.

For Max and Vasso, this would prove a very special climb on the eve of their already remarkable 14, 8000ers quest. Lhotse is one of the only three 8000+ summits they still have unclimbed (the two did Everest north side without supplementary oxygen last spring).

Both Lhotse and Everest will be new 8000+ summits for the other members of the expedition. The team's training starts today (Feb 25) and here goes the short list of the 2008 expedition member candidates: Source: http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=17055)