A long night

After dinner last night which consisted of soup, Dahl Bat, and tinned fruit I was tucked up in my sleeping bag at seven thirty. Breakfast was at nine o'clock this morning! I decided to do some emails to my family before dropping off to sleep.

The sunlight struck the tent at around eight o'clock and we woke to find the tent covered in frozen condensation. I've had dryer kit sleeping in a snow hole! At least there you know you're going to get wet. By 8.30 it was too hot in the tent so I clambered out of my soggy sleeping bag (thankfully still warm) to the mess tent for a welcome cup of tea.

Just before 9.00am we were all up for breakfast which consisted of porridge (I've decided I really don't like porridge and now just call it 'calories' especially with the amount of sugar I put on it to make it bearable!). This was followed by beans on toast which was ok but everything, understandably, is served on metal plates, bowls and mugs for durability. The draw back is that food gets cold pretty swiftly.

At about 10.15am we set off up through the rest of Camp Two to see which other teams are currently here. Bearing in mind the number of teams at BC it's not surprising that Camp Two is spread out in a similar manner. 

We're in the lower section of Camp Two which is where Jagged Globe have traditionally camped. It's meant to be slightly less windy and less avalanche prone. Having said that the hanging glacier behind us looks pretty huge! An advantage is that is saves half an hour on the walk from Camp One.

The views from the top of Camp Two are stunning. What look like near vertical impenetrable walls of ice and rock form the head of Western Cwm (also known as the Valley of Silence). Somehow our route picks its way up the Lhotse face, across the Yellow Band and the Geneva Spur (evocative names to anyone who has read any of the numerous accounts on the South side of Everest). Whilst I can see the summit towering ominously above (another 2450m higher) from the rear of our tent we still can't see the South Col from where we will launch our summit bid.

I've taken a picture looking back down the Wester Cwm. Our tents are the red ones on the right and the wide open glacier leading down to Camp One is on the left.

I'm sorry the quality isn't great but I'm limited by the reception on the satellite phone. The trouble is the satellites are orbiting around the earth all the time and the phone only gets a limited view of them from within a deep valley often for only a couple of minutes at a time. I need to be able to download everything at once otherwise I have to start all over again. Sometimes I can wait over half a hour to get a long enough connection.

My sleeping bag is now hanging over the top of our tent drying nicely.

I'm pleased to say feeling much better today after yesterday however I did take an Azetazolamide last night as I had a slight headache. It's seems to have done the trick.

All in all a nice day at Camp Two.

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.