After spending 7 days up in the mountain, we have enjoyed the last two days relaxing here at our base camp and enjoying the great meals prepared by Rabin. Our trip up to camp 2 and 3 was very successful. We left our base camp on the 23rd and spent the night at camp 1. Next day we had a great day walk to Camp 2. I had an opportunity to show my group, what to do if you fall off 5 ladders crossing in one of the biggest crevasses between camp 1 and 2.Our camp 2 is located on the top section and sits on a bit of height compare to most other camps. We have a great view down the western Cwm and also get to watch everyone that passes through on their way to Camp 3.
We made a small platform between our kitchen and our mess tent, which we named Cafe C2 and has the best view of Everest south face, Lhotse, Nuptse and western Cwm. After a day of rest and acclimatisation we went and made a quick acclimatisation trip to base of Lhotse face, which is roughly at 6700 meters. That night we were greeted with almost 12 inches of snow, but the morning was beautiful with clear blue sky and it was great day for us to enjoy Caf’ C2 all day on the sun.On the 28th we decided to go and sleep at camp 3, which is right on the middle of Lhotse face.
We were one of the only first three groups to do so this season. It was long and hard day but the condition on the face this year is really good with fresh snow making climbing lot more easier as we did not had to keep driving our front point on hard blue ice like last year. Everyone made it up to camp 3 in great time. Mingma, Mikma and Thsiring went back all the way down to base camp after helping us set up camp. 4 climbers and us 6 guides spent very windy and very happy night at camp 3. It is very impressive to see how everyone coped with sleeping at over 7000m. Nobody needed any medical assistance to sleep everyone enjoyed the great view and great sunset from camp 3.
We decided to leave next morning and come back down all the way to base camp in one single push. After windy morning descending Lhotse face, we had a good couple of hour at Camp 2 packing and having lunch. Descending through icefall in the evening with no one around was just great. We have had two days of quite relaxing days here at base camp and planning our next week or so. Will let you know what our plans will be for our rest period before the summit push.
Speak soon.
Sumit