A Welcome Rest Day
22nd April I woke up with the sun beaming into the tent and the noise of people organising themselves. The majority of the team were climbing the North Col today. I got up and stuck my head out to wish them good luck. This took quite an effort and found myself happily flopping back onto my sleeping bag for a doze. The wind up at ABC is wild. You hear it funnel up the valley then rip through the camps, pulling at the tents. I woke one morning expecting damage but to my surprise everything but the toilet tent was un-harmed. Living at 6400m, which is the height of ABC your body really is recovering as much as surviving. You don`t sleep properly, your appetite is reduced and any activity takes it out of you. This is why it so important to make the long journey back to Base camp. The day was mainly spent listening to the radio chat coming back from the guys climbing. The majority did really well and got up in good time. One or two didn`t make for various reasons and they will discuss the beast way forward with Stu on there return to ABC. Everybody looked tired on there return and a few had developed the dry cough that is common when working hard at this kind of height. I plan to trek back to base camp tommmorow so spent some time sorting out what I was taking down and what was staying. I wanted to make a couple of alterations to my set up for the next trip up the mountain and decided I would leave the equipment at ABC and do it when I get there next time round. Rather than dreading this next assault I am now looking forward to it. The North col gave me confidence which earlier in the trip I was lacking. I know now what to expect when the air gets thin.

The Trek to Base Camp
23rd April After grabbing breakfast I set off, with Simon at 9.30am. We knew this was going to be a slog, and what a slog it turned out to be. The scenary was beautiful with towering ice structures on both sides of the moraine and snow capped peaks all around. Once I got my clothing right I settled into a plod that was more like a day in Scotland than the Himalaya. The ground was rough and undulating but once I got down below 6000m the air became a little richer and my breathing definately calmed down. It was then justy the distance that was the issue. We had been warned that it was a long way but not this long. The way I felt confirmed that at ABC(6400m) your body is not recovering. I din`t feel like I had had a full days reat the day before. The worst part of all was the last section. I came down the last steep decsent, meeting a yak train half way down which was funny. The Yaks just freeze as you approach, or atleast the front guy does. Then what happens is the hurder shouts,whips, thorws stones at the hurd all of which set off apart from the one that is at the front. What follows is a bunch of Yaks trying become one as they all walk into each other. Finallly they get past and I can join the path again. After this last descent I felt I was nearly home, what I didn`t bargin on was that the flat section that followed would take another hour. This was the same for most of the guys as they came in. I was very tired and was looking forward to my tent.

Rest, rest, rest
24th April I slept the best yet. The air felt thick with oxygen, my cough is ok and I didn`t wake up for a pee all night..... Perfect. There was about 8 of us that had come down yesterday so camp was a little more quieter than usual. I spent the morning with the down wind doors of my tent open with my top off reading my book. I am reading a book written by the official Times reporter on the 1953 Everest exped. So far it talks about the problems of how he was going to get information back to England without other reporters gettting there first. I am looking forward to reading on and finding out how the info is delivered. Everything is easier down hear. I can function normally without being out of breath...much. I wouldn`t want to start running anywhere and when I climb a short way up the valley side to get signal on the Bgan I still breath hard. The different is now I feel like my legs are being provided with enough oxygen to keep going. I am looking forward to another few days of rest before any more trips up to ABC and beyond. We are going back up on thursday (29th) so we`ve got a few more days to charge the batteries

BC Rest
25th April I am sleeping really well and feeling well rested down here at BC. We have done a deal with a local guy with a motorbike who is providing us with coke,sprite and beer. We have all chipped in and bought cases and cases of the stuff. It`s been fun watching him deliver 2 cases at a time on his bike, with a big smile on his face counting his dollars. The wind is not quite as persistant down here, still the air temperature is cold. The sun is veryintense and would burn you quickly if you don`t protect yourself. I organised to speak to my family today which was great. my parents,sis & kids, Beth and Isla were all there together. It was great to talk to them although really hard not to blubber especially when Isla comes on. It`s so much easier on this trip being able to comunicate with home regularly. My family are so important and it`s time like this I realise how important! The sat phone and bgan equipment is working really well. It`s incredible to think I can sit such a remote location and speak to the UK with such clarity. The facilities down here at BC are good. It`s nice to be able to get a bit of washing done and have a shower of sorts. The Nepalese guys that run the camp are hard working and always wanting to please. The cook tent is a hive activity. They`re constantly boiling water which has been gathered from the glacier fed river about 15mins walk away. The guys take a barrel over to the river and fill it up then roll it back. I tried to move one of these barrels and wow it was heavy. Mat is back from Katmandu. He has been given a clean bill of health and his insurance (the BMC) are happy for him to have another bash. He has to do the acclimatisation walks over the next few days to catch up and then hope his body copes with it. The group are begining to discuss the next stage of the plan. Once we have completed the next trip up we will be sat waiting for a weather window for our summit attempt. The next stage involves the dreaded walk upto ABC followed by a days rest then upto the North col and sleep. The next day we make our way up the North ridge upto 7500m before back to the North Col for another night. We then descend the North Col back to ABC followed by a days rest. Once back at BC we are then read for the summit bid. This is likely to be around the middle of May.

BC Rest
26th April Today was a sad day. We got news around 11am that they has been an accident on the North Wall leading up to the North Col. A prominent Secrac (unstable ice)has collapsed and swept three climbers off the fixed lines. One was injured, one is still missing and one was killed. My condolencese go to the family(ies) of the climbers. The detail we have is pretty vague. We undersatand that they were part of the Asian treking party. This company offer a range of suppport depending on your budget.David Sharp, the guy from Guisborough who died in 2006 used them. Apparently the three Hungarians had base camp support but nothing above there.Todays accident had nothing to do with there level of support as this could have happened at anytime. This incident has given me a strange feeling. It`s funny thinking we passed over that ground only a few days prior. It is rare for this kind of collapse to happen during the climbing season. During the monsoon there will be a lot more instability due mainly to the snow fall. A section of the fixed lines needs replacing and the route clearing.We believe it will take the CTMA 2 days to sort this. It won`t effect our movement up the mountain. We will still set off on our next stage on thursday and move to the North col on saturday, after a days rest at ABC. I think it has made everybody think a littlie more about the enviorment we are heading into. It has not placed any doubt in my mind of what I hope to acheive, it just makes me even more aware of my surroundings and what I can do to limit the risk to me.

BC Rest
27th April At 6pm the North Col / Lhapkri team set off on there 16hr journey to Lhasa, on there last leg before returning to Katmandu. They were a good bunch who added to the team in a number of ways. It was quite a mixed group, who I think all got a lot out of the trip. I couldn`t help feeling a little envious when they were talking about home, there families and hot baths. This morning we had a Q & A session with Stu and Mat, the guides. A lot of the questions were self explaniory, but it was good to hear about things like the cooking arrangements, oxygen suppplies and times between camps higher on the mountain. I feel ready to take on the next big challenge which is 7500m without oxygen. If this goes well, on the summit bid, I intend to sleep on oxygen at 7800m before heading upto 8200m the following day again on oxygen. I will arrive at the 8200m camp early afternoon where I will rest, eat and hydrate before leaving for the summit at 10.30pm that night. All sounds so easy!!!! Lets get this next stage cracked first and then start focusing higher.

The Final Rest Day
28th April This morning was the first really calm morning, and looking up at the summit of Everest I wouldn`t of minded today being the day. The weather/wind normally worsens in the afternoon which is a pattern followed in most mountainous regions. Intended summit time is between 6.30 & 8.30am, so we have plenty of time to get down before mother nature whips things up. I have spent this morning enjoying the final day of rest before our long journey upto ABC. Don,Scott and Jantoon set off today, for differing reasons. Jantoon didn`t get make the North col first time round, so he has to catch up. Don is the 62year old dad of Scott who is finding the trip pretty tough. He is a fantastic guy and I really hope he makes it to the North col. I think he has resigned himself to the fact that the summit is out of his reach. Over the last 5 years, he has completed 5 of the 7 summits with his son Scott. Scott is a sub 3hr marathon runner and would have a good chance of making the summit. The latest from our leader Stu is that Scott is not going to make an attempt if his dad is not going to be there with him. He is a very motivated, organised young man and your intial reaction is one of disappointment but then there is something really warming the fact he wants to stay back with his dad. I wish then both a memorable conclusion to the trip, whatever happens. I have got my gear ready for the trek up to ABC. I`m trying to keep my pack as lite as poss as I reckon any energy I preserve now is in the tank for the days to come. The lines have been re-fixed up the head wall onto the North col. Appartently it is a more direct route but avoids the Serac dangers. I am looking forward to making my way above the North Col, high up on the north ridge. The team are in good spirits and are one unit which is good. I feel these days spent around base camp could be days where personalities begin to rub but everybody seems to get on well. The mountain has been rigged up to 7800m, so no one has summited yet. The team rigging normally complete to the summit about now, but due to the winds and cold temperatures it will be sometime in the next week. We have tents and supplies at the North col and a tent at 7800m. What the sherpas do is get a tent up then cordon off an area for our use. They can then use the tent to store equipment and shelter if needed. We begin to get daily weather reports from the 1st May. This comes from the States and uses several different weather models, which depending on the level of agreement between the models determines the accuracy of the forecast. Keep our fingers crossed that we get some still bright weather in the middle of May...............Perfect!!