The Ropes are Fixed
16th May Looking up at Everests` summit, standing 25km away and 3.5km vertically higher is an incredible sight. This morning it looked calm and reachable. There was no wind at base camp and no plume whipping off the summit. It was decided that our sherpas would move up to ABC today so I helped sort out some of the food that needed taking up. The forecast is growing in confidence for the 23rd 24th and to really get people excited we heard over the radio that the Chinese have fixed the lines to the summit. I talked to the Montengrans today who told me the two Tiwanese in there group have gone up hoping to summit tommorow. If this is right they will be at 8200m waiting for tonight and there attempt. Good luck guys!

Lights on the Ridge
17th May Last night my mind was occupied with thoughts of whats coming. I couldn`t sleep and decided to open the end of the tent and have a look at the mountain. I could see the lights of climbers up at high camp just below the north east ridge. The tents are on little ledges around 8200m. It was 11pm so they probably getting ready to go for the summit. It was an inspiring sight. The lights seemed to put the mountain into scale. I am really looking forward to getting up high and that feeling of space all around. Stu showed us a video he put together in 2002 of the summit ridge. The majority of the climb is straight forward over mixed ground with a couple of sections of exposed ground and steep climbs. The views are just incredible. I hope I get that high and can appreciate my surroundings. On the south side of the ridge is the Changse face, the route Stephen Venables climbed. It is very steep and falls away several thousand feet. Our route keeps you well away from this. Simon and I have decided to write ourselves some aid memoirs for the high camps. Hopefully this will mean we don`t have to think to hard when were up there. I`m off to pack now, will be off the blog radar for a few days now. Next time I write I will hopefully be telling you of my successful summit. Finally i`d like to thank you all for your encouragement and kind words both before I came out and on the blog. When things get really tough I`m sure I will draw on the support. Thanks to you all. See you soon