Faith and Frost: Anja Blacha Seeks Divine Favor on the Path to Lhotse

In the thin, freezing air of the Himalayas, the line between athletic endurance and spiritual surrender often blurs. For Anja Blacha, one of the most accomplished high-altitude mountaineers in history, the journey toward the summit of Lhotse began not with a step upward, but with a prayer.

Blacha, a 35-year-old German athlete, recently detailed the rituals of the Puja—a traditional Buddhist ceremony designed to secure the well-being of an expedition. For many Sherpas, the ascent is unthinkable without this religious invocation. The ceremony is a plea for permission and goodwill from the gods, rooted in the humbling philosophy that climbers are merely guests on the mountain, tolerated by the terrain rather than masters of it.

The scene at the camp was one of vivid contrast against the stark white landscape. From 6:00 a.m., Sherpas decorated a stone altar with golden cloths and prayer flags. Offerings of fruit, pastries, and sweets were laid out as gifts. In a gesture of total reliance on their equipment and the divine, the team placed their boots, helmets, ice axes, and crampons on the altar to be blessed.

The ritual involved participants throwing rice into the air and smearing their faces with Tsampa, the local barley flour, to invite excellent fortune. Some wore lucky collars, while others toasted the venture with Raksi—a traditional local spirit—or whisky, and rum. This proves a moment of collective hope before facing some of the most hostile conditions on Earth.

The Quest for the Final Two

The Expedition Lhotse is more than a single peak; it is a critical step in a historic pursuit. Blacha has already summited 12 of the 14 “eight-thousanders”—the world’s peaks exceeding 8,000 meters—and she has done so without the use of bottled oxygen. This feat places her as the most successful German woman in this category.

Only two mountains remain: Lhotse and Shishapangma. Each presents a distinct set of lethal variables. While Lhotse is notorious for the danger of falling ice, Shishapangma is feared for its avalanche risks. For Blacha, the challenge is not merely the ascent, but the unpredictability of physical condition and mountain weather, factors she notes cannot be assessed in advance.

Her track record is characterized by a rare level of consistency, maintaining a 100% first-time success rate on her expeditions. This precision is evident in her history with Mount Everest, which she has summited three times. Her first ascent in 2017 via the Tibetan north side utilized a breathing mask. She returned via the Nepalese south side in 2021 using bottled oxygen from approximately 8,400 meters, and again in 2025—this time without a breathing mask, becoming the first German woman to achieve that specific feat.

Overcoming the Khumbu Icefall

Despite the spiritual preparation, the physical reality of the mountain often imposes its own will. Before the current push for altitude acclimatization could begin, the expedition faced a significant standstill. The “Icefall Doctors”—the elite team responsible for securing the route—had been unable to place ladders and fix-ropes through the Khumbu Icefall for weeks.

The delay was caused by a serac, a massive tower of ice that posed an imminent threat to anyone passing beneath it. The resulting deadlock led to emergency meetings in Kathmandu and at the base camp, highlighting the precarious nature of Himalayan climbing where a single shifting block of ice can halt an entire season’s ambitions.

For a climber like Blacha, these delays are part of the psychological game. She views every previous expedition as the essential training for the next, treating the process as a continuous evolution rather than a series of isolated events.

A Polymath of Endurance

To understand the drive behind the Expedition Lhotse, one must look at the duality of Blacha’s life. Born in Bielefeld, Germany, she is not a professional athlete in the traditional sense, but a business professional who has largely self-funded her journeys. Her academic background is as diverse as her climbing resume, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Mannheim—with studies at UC Berkeley and Korea University—and a Master’s degree in Philosophy from Birkbeck, University of London.

This intellectual rigor extends to her other athletic pursuits. In 2017, she became the youngest German woman to climb Mount Everest and the youngest German overall to complete the Seven Summits (the highest peak on every continent). In 2019, she became the first German woman to summit K2.

Her ambitions extend beyond the mountains. At the turn of 2019/2020, Blacha completed a solo, unsupported ski journey of over 1,300 kilometers from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole. This achievement made her the first woman to complete such a journey solo and unsupported, as well as the youngest person ever to reach the South Pole under those specific conditions.

Redefining Ambition

Despite the records and the accolades, Blacha maintains a nuanced perspective on her motivations. She has expressed a distaste for the word “ambition,” noting that in German, the term can carry negative connotations. Instead, she frames her journey as a pursuit of enriching experiences and goals.

For Blacha, the mountains are not a means of defining her identity, but a path of discovery. Whether it is the discipline of her early years in fencing—which earned her the title of Sportswoman of the Year from the University of London in 2012—or the solitude of the Antarctic plateau, her career is a study in calculated risk and extreme endurance.

As she moves forward from the blessed altar of the Puja and past the volatile ice of the Khumbu, the focus remains on the summit of Lhotse. If successful, she will move one step closer to the 14th and final eight-thousander, Shishapangma, cementing a legacy of high-altitude achievement that few in history have ever approached.

The next critical checkpoint for the expedition will be the successful navigation of the higher camps and the window for the final summit push. We will continue to monitor the progress of Blacha as she attempts to close the gap on her historic collection of the world’s highest peaks.

Do you believe the spiritual rituals of the Puja provide a psychological edge in extreme environments? Let us know in the comments.