Up to Chukhung Ri 5535m

After setting our alarms for 6.30 am we had breakfast which consisted of porridge, mixed omelette with garlic and toast. We set off at 7.30 for our first Nepalese summit, reaching it two hours and fifty minutes later. 

Now I could leave it there and let you think that everything was fine. I've got this dilemma: do I give you a sanitised view of life on this trip or do I give you the 'warts and all' version. I suspect you'll find the latter more interesting although possibly more alarming for my family. The other problem I have is that to date I've been able to send a daily post and I'm not sure how long this will continue. I'll do my best to try and send you something interesting each day but don't be alarmed if I miss a day. I say this as when I made my own way down to ABC on the north side from Camp 3 I was so exhausted I didn't have the energy to send a text to my wife saying I was down safely. You can imagine the distress this caused! 

So back to today, the first 700m went ok and I was able to keep up with the rest of the group (there were six of us as Nick had decided to stay at the lodge) however I really struggled with those last 100m. So much so I even thought about not going any higher but what sort of signal would that give to David. I continued up a few paces at a time struggling to set up any type of rhythm which I knew would be vital if I was to get to the top. Instead all I could hear was my heart beat thumping between my ears as my body tried to extract much needed oxygen from the air. Occasionally I felt dizzy and was stumbling which I knew was bad. Thankfully the top appeared in sight just 20m ahead and on reaching it I collapsed on to a flat rock for some much needed rest. What was strange was that once I was stationery I felt fine. I just had no energy to climb any higher. Even though I was only a short distance behind the group I told David how I was feeling and then three others pipped up saying how hard they had found the last section ! It was reassuring to know I wasn't alone. The lack of oxygen meant I forgot to set off my Spot2 gps messenger. I suspect this won't be the last time! 

So we had climbed up 800m to where the air pressure is 480 millibars (roughly half that of sea level) - no wonder we were struggling. After an energy bar ( why do they always taste of cardboard) we dropped back down to our lodge for lunch. 

I'm pleased to say I'm feeling much better now at a level of 4750m and I've hardly coughed at all today which is great. Nobody said this was going to be easy!!