Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Just down from Camp 3!

Wahoo! We had a huge day today, moving up to Camp 3 at 24,000 ft.

Everyone did super well going up the lower part of Lhotse Face and coming back down. We left Camp 2 at 5 am, moved over to the base of the Lhotse Face and then started uphill. Good conditions made for pretty easy climbing up to Camp 3. Most everyone set new personal altitude records today. It was very warm and with no wind, it made for an enjoyable day, at least as enjoyable as climbing above 7000 meters can be!

We are all back safe in Camp 2 now, and will probably be up here for one more night before heading down to Base Camp and then on down lower for a much deserved break from being up high for almost 2 weeks. This marks the end of our second rotation, our last venture up high before heading back up for our summit attempt. From this point on it becomes a waiting game, watching the weather closely and making sure all of our oxygen and supplies are in place for a summit bid. Every aspect of the coming weeks presents a tough job, but our climbers and Sherpas are ready for it. Today our Sherpas carried multiple loads up to the South Col.

We are in no hurry here as the fixed lines have not even been put in above the South Col. Also the weather seems to have taken an unstable turn and has been snowing and blowing most afternoons. We are looking carefully for the consistent, low wind, pre-monsoon patterns that typically bring warmer and more predictable weather to Everest!

Scott Woolums reporting from Camp 2 , Mt. Everest.

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