Japanese climber Kuriki Nobukazu holds a flag of Nepal during an announcement of his solo expedition of Mount Everest in Kathmandu August 20, 2010. (File photo Reuters)
A Japanese climber attempting the first summit of Mount Everest after a deadly quake-triggered avalanche destroyed part of base camp last April was set to make his final push around midnight Saturday.
Japan's Nobokazu Kuriki, who lost nine of his fingers to frostbite during a 2012 attempt to climb Everest, is the only mountaineer pursuing the summit this year after an avalanche set off by a massive quake in April killed 18 people at base camp.
The disaster saw hundreds of climbers abandon their bids to ascend the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) peak, marking a second spring season with virtually no one reaching the summit of the world's highest mountain.
The deaths of 16 Nepali guides in an avalanche in 2014 sparked a shutdown that year.
"I'm going to rest...and will try summit push on 27th," Mr Kuriki wrote in a message posted on Saturday on his official Facebook page.
Mr Kuriki, who plans to summit alone without the aid of bottled oxygen, is making his fifth attempt to climb Everest, at a time when the risks are higher than usual thanks to regular aftershocks increasing the chance of avalanches.
Mountaineering experts say climbing Everest in the autumn is more dangerous than attempting it in the spring due to high winds and lower temperatures.
Kuriki, 33, said he would tackle the final stretch overnight, ascending into the "death zone" -- located above 8,000 metres, notorious for its difficult terrain and thin air -- and summit around dawn on Sunday.
Mountaineers usually begin their summit attempts late at night, which allows them to descend in daylight, lowering the risk of them falling to their deaths due to exhaustion.
Mr Kuriki had originally planned to summit in mid-September before bad weather forced him to delay his ascent up the mountain.
"I want to reach the summit and share my adventure with many people by live webcasting," he wrote on Facebook in the days leading up to the attempt.
Mountaineering is a major revenue-earner for impoverished Nepal, home to eight of the world's 14 peaks over 8,000 metres.
The April 25 earthquake killed nearly 8,900 people in the Himalayan nation. Apart from the Everest avalanche it destroyed the popular Langtang trekking route, raising fears for the immediate future of the tourism industry.