Merry Christmas,

Not quite, but snow is falling again which has changed our plans for the summit. Today, 20 September has us waiting for a weather window which is expected for the 22nd according to the weather forecast.

The first summit team made up of Ellen, Gustav, Marco, Bertrand, Russ and myself made it up to camp II but the heavy snowfall made for windslabs and Russ decided that we could not break trail up to camp III and then to the summit. The Sherpas carried what seemed to be nearly double loads up to camp II and could not be asked to break trail again up to the next camp and to the summit.

The other teams already at camp II were not really too motivated to push on ahead except for four climbers that could not make it to camp III. Brad and Marc spent the night at the second camp and reported a possible summit attempt from two other climbers which is a good sign for all of us. Russ and the other IGO 8000* members are meeting today in order to sort out which teams will work together for summit day since the idea of IGO 8000 is to form a cohesive team of high altitude expeditions which work together to make the mountain safer for all included.

The going was extremely difficult from I to II, not so much because of the snow, but rather from the altitude and the loads. Crossing the 'oven', a very hot bowl that can reach 30 degrees C, makes for an arduous day, especially when the rucksack just wants to pull you back down. Sleeping at 7100 meters was OK for most of us and a warm cup of tea and soup warmed our stomachs. Waking to a clear day, Russ had the difficult decision to call everyone down since we are eager to push for the summit. Having worked so hard to get up to camp II, we did not like the prospect of heading back down to ABC and then doing it all over again, but the ominous face above had spontaneously triggered avalanches in several areas causing reason for a change of plans.

Marco and Bertrand, both disappointed due to 'the big boss's' decision, thought that a snowboard was a much faster way of getting down than walking. To the delight of the entire mountain, they surfed back to camp I, in and out of serracs and jumping the ice cliff amazing the Sherpas jugging their way up. A bit of a morale drainer to those slogging their way up, seeing a bleached blonde kid screaming down the face with a trail of snow behind enjoying what most would dread.

I just received a call from Brad telling me that a group of 6 Koreans were pushing up to campIII and that two climber were on the submittal slope. Let's hope that they have very big feet and can break a wide trail for all of us.

That's it for now, I hope to write the next news letter after a successful summit attempt for the whole team. Cheers to all. Lou

* International Guide Operators 8000 of which Russ is one of the founding members.