Up to the Bergschund

This morning breakfast was at 7.30am and then we set off at 8.00am to make our way to the foot of the Bergschund right at the foot of the Lhotse face.

We had heard Pasang getting up at 5.15am to join Conrad Anker and 14 other Sherpas to put in place the fixed ropes up the Lhotse face to Camp Three at circa 7300m.

The gradient was gentle to begin with but then gradually started to steepen as the glacier rises to meet the angle of the underlying rock at the head wall. Everybody's pace slowed to an absolute crawl. Not even a step at a time was managed, half a step was considered good if only a routine could be maintained. All I could hear was my breathing as if I was sprinting yet I was moving as slowly as a tortoise. After two hours and ten minutes David called it a day. We had reached where he had wanted us to get to approximately 6750m. Who knows how we are going to get to Camp Three when we carrying our big packs again?

The Lhotse face is going to be our next big challenge as we are all feeling the effects of the altitude whilst the face itself is 55-60 degree blue water ice that even crampons will struggle to get a purchase on. Thankfully that's another day I was just pleased to get back to Camp Two and rest!