Up to Camp Two

Having been lying in our sleeping bags since 6.00pm the previous evening it was a relief to hear the alarm go off at 5.00am. I had about two good bouts of sleep with an interrupted period between 10.00pm and midnight. At one stage in the early hours I thought the tent was literally going to take off so strong were the winds.

We set off in biting winds slightly later than planned. After the excitement (danger) of the icefall the walk up the Western Cwm is relatively straightforward and without too much inherent danger except for a few crevasses and a couple of ladder crossings.

I struggled today, whether it was my pack size or the cold I'm not sure but I was the penultimate one to reach Camp Two after two hours and forty five minutes.

On arrival we had some soup and hot squash after which I just crashed out in our tent. At least we are on rocky moraine here rather than on the glacier so the tent might be slightly warmer than Camp One.

Camp Two (circa 6350m) is the equivalent of Advanced Base Camp on the north side and the facilities are similar. We have a mess tent, two Nepalese cooks with their own cook tent, a storage tent and last but not least a toilet tent.

The one thing that is really hard to grasp is the scale of these mountains. As I look out of my tent across the Lhotse face I can see the site of Camp Three which is 900-1000m higher up yet it looks physically much closer and that is what is so daunting. To give you an idea Mount Snowdon is 1065m above sea level and for those who have climbed it will know how long it can take depending upon the route chosen. We have basically got to do the same but starting at sea level but with less than half the air pressure (hence oxygen), the only upside is that our 'cafe' will definitely be open when we get there!

That's it for today looking forward to a couple of hours rest before dinner at six.

I've sent out a Spot2 location message so you can hopefully see the exact position of our tent.

Back up to Camp One

The alarm goes off at 1.30am and as I'm so comfortable I really don't want to get out of my sleeping bag. I have remind myself why I'm here and that it's not meant to be a holiday.

If feels slightly warmer this morning and my fingers remain warm as I dress. Even before getting to the mess tent I hear two avalanches, one on the Pumori side and another on the Lhotse side.

Things follow the usual pattern of breakfast then setting off to crampon point at the foot of the icefall the only difference this time is that we have larger packs.

After about an hour and a quarter there is the tell tale sound of an avalanche somewhere over to our left, but where? It's beyond the range of our head torches, everyone stops just in case it comes into view. Thankfully it passes us without incident.

Tonight it's extremely busy with Sherpas ferrying loads upto camp two and beyond. I never cease to be amazed by their stamina and speed. Whether its because we are stopping to let them pass or it's our heavier packs I feel we are going more slowly than before.

Starting at around 4.30am the night sky lightens imperceptibly at first as a new day dawns. The sky takes on a magical feel and we are able to switch off our head torches.

On the upper reaches of the ice fall there is evidence of a large avalanche that must have occurred since our last trip up. Its demolished our previous route and so we pick pur way across the new uneven ground.

We then come to a double ladder crossing and sadly the site of where a Sherpa died two days ago. For the sake of speed he chose not to clip into the handrail. Unfortunately he fell into the crevasse. His body was recovered yesterday morning by helicopter.

Almost there now, we can see the tents tantalisingly in the distance but it's another 45 minutes before we reach them. 

Camp One, the red tents are ours, Pumori in the background

Surprisingly when I check my watch on arrival it's 7.58 just five and a half hours since we left.

Brett is just a short distance behind me so after removing my crampons I collapse into our tent and get the stove on for us to have a hot drink.

It's sunny but much windier than last time. This made the trip through the ice fall quite cold but on the plus side let us hope we won't be having 35-40 degree c temperatures in the tent.

The plan for the rest of the day is to rest and sleep.

Talking of the wind, David told us yesterday evening that our mess tent at camp two has been flattened by the high winds. Apparently the winds have been much stronger up there. It means the Sherpas are having to bring that tent down to BC and carry our communications tent up to camp two before we arrive there tommorrow.

Descent from Camp One

As my Twitter of yesterday afternoon said - the weather changed! By 4.00 pm local time we were in a thick blizzard very reminiscent of a white out on the Cairngorm plateau but even colder. It passed after about two hours and after boiling some more water and eating some food Brett and I said good night at 6.45pm. It was a very long evening helped partially by listening to my iPod.

Well at 4.30 this morning it was completely pitch black when the alarm went off. Switching on the head torch revealed the whole of the inner tent covered in ice crystals from our breath. We quickly stuffed our damp sleeping bags and insulating mats away (unfortunately this won't do the down any good but I'm sure it'll dry when we are back up there in three days time).

I managed to get cold fingers again this morning (you can tell I'm a slow learner). By the time I'd put my crampons on they were numb. Thankfully I always carry some big mitts and after half a hour they were nice and toastie ( I think I can hear my parents tut tutting even from here!).

After such a good trip up yesterday I struggled today. I was able to keep up but I just felt exetremely lethargic. Whether it was the altitude, a poor nights sleep or dehydration I'm not sure. I suspect it's certainly the latter two as I've crtainly got signs of dehydration which I plan to attend to during the day. Also last night wasn't the most comfortable of nights sleep. As for the altitude I was short of breath during the evening so I had my first Azetazolomide of the trip (is this the start of a slippery slope?). This kicked in after about an hour and certainly helped. Unfortunately one side effect of the drug is an increase in urine production - not what you want when you are in a sleeping bag! There is a way around this of course, you have to have a suitable recepticle. Obviously it's got to have a wide mouth but also an adequate capacity. Unfortunately a litre isn't prooving sufficient!

We set off down through the ice fall at 5.45 am and wthout incident made it to BC three hours later as David had predicted. Once again I stopped and picked up my emails/twitter/Facebook updates. I know this is starting to sound like a stuck record but I do really appreciate all of your comments and good wishes.

After a full English breakfast (well almost if you like salami as opposed to bacon and tinned sausages - to be fair it was very tasty) David gave us a debrief: he was very pleased with our time up to camp one so much so we can have an extra half hour in bed so that when we go in three days time we will arrive just as the sun hits the tents! We will then progress the following day up to camp two for around four days.

After breakfast I collapsed back in my tent hoping to get some sleep before lunch but it was just too hot and stifling. I decided to do some washing and to get some more fluids down me. The best bit of the day is that we were due to be going back up in 40 hours time but David's decided to give us another rest day which is reflected in the timings I've already given. I'm so pleased!! After lunch I'm looking toward to an afternoon siesta as the clouds are already starting to bubble up lower down the valley.

Now the news you've all been waiting for: David says that if everything continues to go as it is and the weather is ok we could be looking at a summit bid of mid May. I can't give the exact date yet as we would like the summit to ourselves!

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!