The team made their way to Camp 1 yesterday morning, beginning their final acclimatization rotation before returning to base camp to rest in anticipation of the summit. The morning was cold and windy and the night was punctuated by small rockfalls and avalanches off Lintgren and Lo La, not in danger of the route. Soon temps warmed as the crew reached C1 and the sun hit camp. Everyone made impressive time though the ice fall which bodes well for their stated goal of tagging camp 3 on this rotation.

Today the team woke with the sun and proceeded up the famed Western Cwm, over the imposing “ice wall” feature, and on to Camp two. The accommodations at camp 2 are rustic no doubt, but much more hospitable than C1. We have two full time cooks on staff at Camp 2 (imagine spending a month cooking at nearly 22,000 ft/6,500m, roughly 7,000ft/2,000m higher than the summit of Mont Blanc in Europe), a dining tent with chairs, and a tent toilet. Camp 2 acts as our Advanced base camp from which we tackle the upper mountain. On a dry year several years ago I was lucky enough to find a ’75 Bonington oxygen bottle melting out in the morraine not far from this camp. 

The team will likely take a rest day tomorrow before heading up the lower slopes of the Lhotse Face to C3 the following day, weather permitting. From there they descend to relax in the relative comfort of C2 for a night before heading back to base camp for more for Kumar’s fine cooking and a hot shower.

All is well with the team at C2.