Camp one in just over five hours

We made it to camp one which is at an altitude of 6100m at 7. 25am this morning after setting off at 2.00am.

The sun hit our tents which had already been pitched for us by the Sherpas approximately 30 minutes later. It's currently over 40 degrees Celsius in our tent. All we want to do is sleep yet it's just far too hot. To make matters worse there is no breeze! We are literally cooking like a boil in the bag meal. Having said that it must get windy here as the Sherpas have tied the tents down with rope in addition to the usual guy lines.

I've given up trying to sleep hence I thought I'd have a go at the blog.

The climb up through the ice field was thankfully undramatic except for an area that had obviously avalanched yesterday and we had to pick our way around it. Most haunting was seeing a section of fixed rope buried beneath a rectangular block of ice that was easily the size of a minibus. Nobody would have stood a chance.

Above the icefield the ground flattens out into the Western Cwm, the valley that leads upto the Lhotse face. The scenery is absolutely stunning. I just hope the photos do it all justice.

From our camp we can see the site of camp three high on the Lhotse face at 7300m and then the line of the route to the south col. The summit of Everest is peering ominously down on us. Pasang says that camp two is about another three hours up the valley but it's hidden from view by the terrain.

Once we reached camp one we unpacked our gear and ate some snacks. Brett who I am sharing a tent with has kindly melted 5 litres of snow, roughly half what we need to drink to stay rehydrated. My turn later.

The view out of the front of the tent is across a wide snow capped glacier across to Pumori. Compared to base camp it's so tranquil. There's not a sound.

We all seem to have coped well with the increase in altitude though I have a slight headache. Probably dehydration or the intense heat.

I'm rapidly praying for some wind as Brett's threatening to strip down to his underwear!

Sorry to say its too hot for any humour today - what a relief I hear you say!

First view of the Lhoste face

This morning as part of our acclimatisation process we walked back out of BC and up to the approximate position of BC for those who choose to climb Pumori. I had the Spot2 set to 'track' so you might be able to see our route on the interactive map if it was working ok. The route up was very reminiscent of the route up the side of Pen yr Ole Wen directly from Ogwen Cottage in North Wales (apologies to all Welsh speakers if the spelling is incorrect!) but with only half the oxygen.

Our reward was an excellent view into the upper reaches of the Western Cwm and the sun glistening across the Lhotse face, an 850m wall of ice that has to be climbed to reach the South Col.
Actually the best bit for me was getting a 3G signal from Gorak Shep! Consequently I was able to check my emails and Twitter. Sadly not Facebook though (I know they'll be a number reading this saying 'that's no great loss').

Whilst it not possible to thank you all personally I do enjoy getting the messages so please keep them coming.

For those of you who have kindly posted comments on the blog there is a delay of approx 24 hours as all comments are moderated first. This is primarily to make sure my brothers don't post anything inappropriate! We got back down to BC for lunch and the afternoon has followed its typical (thankfully) lazy pattern.

Well it's been almost three weeks since we left the uk and our beards are coming along nicely. Sadly despite my mother's genes I don't think I'll win best beard of the trip though - David had a head start! (I can afford to be a bit cheeky at Mum's expense as at her age she will have forgotten by the time I get home!!).

Looking forward to tomorrow as after our usual play in the icefall in the morning I'm hoping to meet up with my friend Jeremy who is also out here in Nepal hoping to climb Island Peak.

Now I wonder what film it will be tonight? (don't worry Heather, Top Gun is there waiting to be seen). Last night it was a knock off copy of the Girl with the Dragon Tatoo with Daniel Craig. A couple of the guys found it quite hard to follow but it helps if you've read the book (or trilogy). Best bit for me though is that it means I won't have to take Caroline to see it - a few bob saved! Actually I've already been served with yellow card for some of my observations (humour). She's threatened to change the door locks.
Ah well bye from EBC. Ps yet another avalanche has descended whilst I was checking the above.

Deboche to Dingboche

We've now turned off the main Everest route for a couple of days to help with our acclimatisation. Unfortunately though it means we've lost the mobile signal so I'm having to use the sat phone. The bandwidth is very limited so there won't be any photos. Sorry! Best news of the day is its been five hours since my last paracetamol and I'm feeling ok so hopefully over whatever the bug was. In fact speaking to others over breakfast who had been ill earlier, they reported feeling better. We've just had lunch and it's so cold Bruno and I are in our bedroom inside our sleeping bags with our hats on trying to keep warm as the snow settles outside. The room temperature is five degrees C ie about the temperature of your fridge! This morning at Pangboche we had a blessing from Lama Geshe. We will be having another one once we get to BC from a younger Lama. He is now in his seventies and unable to make the journey. So here is today's ' thought for the day ' brought to you from Lama Geshe at 4300m.

Give up all intentions to harm others from your heart
And do your best to benefit them all
If each and everyone feels the universal responsibility to do so,
We will all enjoy the feast of peace.

Blessing

Following the blessing Llama Geshe kindly gave us all a card. Apparently everyone who has carried this card to the summit has returned safely. Needless to say we all intend to carry it!

Monjo to Namche Bazaar

I've realised I've not told you who else is on the expedition:

David Hamilton who is our leader
Adam Ward who is our base camp manager and chef. Yes that's right we've got a uk chef to oversee the menus and the cooking.

Team members:
Bruno Baschung from Switzerland
Philip Purdy
Nick Bailey
Cain O'Brolchain of Southern Ireland
Brett Hammond
Warner Rojas Chinchilla who is hoping to be the first person from Costa Rica to summit.

Our ages range from 32 to 52.

Yesterday whilst our walk initially dropped down from Lukla we regained the height on reaching Monjo at 2835m. 

You soon learn to give way to yaks!

I am pleased to say most of the team had their best nights sleep. I had a solid 8 hours which I have to admit I've not had for many weeks. I suspect it's a combination of getting over the jet lag as Nepal is four and a half hours ahead of the UK and just the relief of actually getting here.

Today we climbed the 750m up to Namche which I remember well from last time as being the first really continuous section of up hill walking. I just recall arriving in Namche exhausted and fighting for breath as the effects of the altitude kicked in. This time though I'm pleased to say I arrived feeling so much better - probably the good nights sleep. I say long may it continue.

Along the way we had our very first glimpse through the trees of Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam which were approximately 30 and 20 miles away.

We arrived at our lodge in time for lunch and this afternoon we dropped back down into the town centre to do a bit of shopping. A few of us also stopped to have an excellent coffee and cake at a bakery (I've got Ben B to thank for this as we visted the bakery on our Ama Dablam trip in 2009). It must be the best one in town as David H also dropped in.

A couple of guys including Cian and Pasang then decided to go to the Irish bar to play some pool! Hard to beleive but no matter where you are in the world you're never far from an Irish Bar. I've not heard the result yet.

The food has been good. Last night for dinner I had a plate of chips with two fried eggs and not a single vegetable in sight (Henrietta would have loved it), followed by an individual deep fried apple pie! The pie tasted a lot better than it looked. I don't believe the lodges have ovens as most of the food is prepared over paraffin stoves. So the Nepalese have something in common with that alternative national dish of Scotland - the deep fried Mars Bar!

Breakfast was porridge and an omelette on toast whilst lunch was soup followed by boiled potatoes and tinned tuna in tomato sauce with some extra hot spices.

I'm pleased to say the quality of the food is so much higher than that I experienced (endured) in Tibet whilst travelling to base camp on the north side.

We will be staying in Namche for two nights to aid our acclimatisation.