Camp I at 6,050m

Sunday 20th April - climbing team and Sherpa team members held traditional Pujah ceremony which all teams conducted prior to stepping foot on the mountain. All ice axes, crampons and climbing harness placed at the bottom of the stupa and on each piece of equipment a dob of butter placed for good luck & safe travel. Numerous prayers recited from Bhuddist scriptures, and the ceremony finished with throwing both rice and dhampa flour into the air, then generous shots of whisky to all members. With this ceremony behind us, everyone feeling energized that the real climbing can now begin.

Monday 21st April - 5am start, James, Ansolm, Namgal Sherpa and myself set out for Camp 1 up through the ice fall. Under a near full moon, mild temperatures and no wind, conditions were perfect. The route weaved it's way for hours up through a field of fallen ice, and crevasses. Crossing the crevasses on ladders required a good degree of balance and one had to be careful of accurate foot between the ladder rungs, not catching a crampon. For most of the route, we moved along on fixed lines for safety. In numerous places there were vertical sections with some 5-6 ladders roped together. The up and down climbing over the ice in the ice fall just seemed relentless and was physically exhausting - we were not mentally prepared. What we anticipated would be a 4 hour climb ended up taking us 9 hours arriving at Camp 1 at 2pm. We discussed the appeal of beach holidays on numerous occasions along the way. We eventually fell into the tents at Camp I, pleased to have arrived but would now have to deal with the soaring heat of camp (with sun glare off the snow) and throbbing headaches for the large jump in altitude from 5,364m to 6,050m. From Camp I we had a good view of the route up the Western Cwm and could see the Lhotse Face and the ridge of Everest up close for the first time.

Tuesday 22nd April - feel like crap from the altitude. Throbbing headache, hydrating difficult, and absolutely no appetite. Stayed in tent the whole day, hoping things would get better. James & Ansolm doing ok. Camp II at 6,400m expected to be set up tomorrow. Definitely had better days.

Wednesday 23rd April - the headache and loss of appetite persists despite being hungry. Drinking is difficult. I know I am not ready to advance to Camp II. James & Ansolm will go up tomorrow. Staying here at Camp I only makes me weak so I decided to return to Base Camp to rest, eat and recover for a few days. I followed the Sherpas down through the ice fall leaving Camp I at 2pm and arrived at BC by 5pm to meet up with other team mates - Andy, Raphael, Gina and Jamie who will all head up to Camp I for the first time tomorrow. It is amazing just how much better you feel for dropping 600m in altitude, the headache has started to dissipate already and a bowl of corn flakes never tasted so good. I will spend the next few days hanging out at base camp and hopefully catching up with some climbing buddy's from Cho Oyu back in 2006. As soon as I am feeling stronger will head back up to Camp I & II for further acclimatization. This acclimatization process for each member is the most critical to the future summit attempt and may require going up and down to Camp I & II some 2-3 times before the summit (the fewer times the better though).

BTW - have recovered from dog bite thankfully! Health doing ok, same for other team members as good as can be expected adjusting to change in diet and environment.

Bye for now...David