D-Day

Yesterday afternoon, Dowa climbed up to put the fixed ropes in, and reported back that the route was in good condition and that the summit should be possible. Andy was non-committal when he told us, but I’m sure he’d like to get there too.

We had the usual pre-summit meal in our tents last night: soup and prawn crackers, a rehydrated meal in a bag (salmon and dill sauce this time) then a slice of fruit. While we were eating, the Sherpas filled our water-bottles with boiled water, so we tucked these inside our sleeping bags to keep our feet warm and crashed out at about 19:30.

As a result of Dowa’s assessment, the hot chocolate arrived at 01:00 this morning to give us a bit more time to reach the summit. I haven’t been outside yet but Andy just popped round and reported that it was clear and warm, which is ideal. Right now I’m trying to force down a bowl of porridge, but I’m hoping it will be the last one as I can’t stand the stuff. I need something to get me up the mountain though, and there isn’t a huge amount of choice up here.

Once the porridge is dealt with, it’s time to go.