Base Camp
14th May Woke to a windy day in base camp. We are waiting for the forecast everyday now. The Chinese are up at ABC and are ready to go up and fix the lines. The latest is they plan to be up there for the 16th. This would be great as it means some teams may try for an earlier summit, leaving less traffic on the 23rd 24th. We were visited by young Jordan and his team this afternoon. They had met up with a team of Austrians who include an extreme skier. He headed a team that had made a video of there asscent of a remote Alaskan mountain called Elias. There plan was to climb up then ski down. The video followed there expedition. We sat through the video which was fantastic. It was made even cooler by the fact I was sat next to the main skier. The climb was hardcore but then the ski down was unreal. He wasn`t sking down Everest but he did have a and big plan in mind but he wasn`t letting on. Some of the teams are begining to move. Some will stop at intermediate camp on the way up to ABC. I think everyone will converge on ABC within a day or so of each other. It sounds like the weather is not going to be perfect but calm for the critical days when we are high. j pic

Cooking at Base camp
15th May Since we`ve been down at base camp Josh and I have been "steering" Raje, our chef into cooking some slightly more Western food. We`ve been using the same ingredients but cooking them in a different way. We are pretty sure he doesn`t mind us sticking our noses in. The team seem to be apprecative of our efforts and there plates are clean. One or two of the us are suffering with different ailments. Mat the guide is still coughing but seems to be on the mend. Heather seems to have a throat infection along with bruised ribs from coughing. Stephen is recovering from a stomach bug and our super star, Brendan seems to have a chest problem. Hopefully all will be well enough to start up for ABC on Tuesday. My mind is beginning to switch on to what is now only a few days away. I am beginning to think of the routine that i hope to get into higher up. I`ve got a few little adjustments to make after last time. Things like lengthening my zips so I can get hold of them with my big mitts on. I`m thinking of what I`m going to do for nutrition on the big day. Maxi muscle have sponsored Josh for a number of years and have kindly sent over a range of supplements which are perfaect for the big days. I am planning to use both the maxi muscle bars and the power gels. Its possible to force them down when eating is the last thiung you want to do. I plan to drink a Maxi muscle protein mix at the start of each hard day. The protein will regulate my blood sugar levels and stop the peaks and troughs you tend to get when only eating sugars. I plan to eat and drink a small amount every hour on summit day. This will hopefully keep me going the 14+ hours it`s going to take.