Camp 4 - Less than 36 hours to go now

Paul and the team made it safely to Camp 4. Paul was climbing two areas today, The Geneva Spur and The Yellow Band, both of which are embedded in Everests history, so it must have been quite a surreal experience to find himself there. 

Arriving at the South Col sounded quite a brutal affair, the wind was around 50 knots. On the South Col, climbers enter the 'death zone'. Climbers typically only have a maximum of two or three days that they can endure at this altitude for making summit bids. Clear weather and low winds are critical factors deciding whether to make a summit attempt. Henry Todd (group leader based at base camp) says the winds are due to calm down by about 4h00 (23h00 LDN tonight).

Sunset at Camp 4. Taken at 14h30 LDN from Kenton's tent TODAY -  Room with a view!

As we have no direct communication with Paul, here's what Kenton had to say: "It's damn windy here, I've never spent a day 'resting' at the col before... I hope it pays off. It's far too windy to set off for the summit now so we have little option but to wait... just hope the wind dies down... I'm in fear of the tent shredding!!!" Although Kenton doesn't normally rest here over night, I believe it's a good thing they are, especially for Paul, it will give him more time to adjust to the altitude and oxygen.

Below are pictures of some of the terrain Paul and the guys encountered today:

Climbing the 'yellow band' Camp 3 to Camp 4

The yellow band is a rocky section of the mountain about 20-30 feet high on Everest. This band runs across all the 8000m peaks from Pakistan to Tibet through Nepal. This is proof that Everest was once under the sea and the continental plates pushing against each other formed the mighty Himalayas. At some point in history it's reported a meteor strike would have formed the yellow band layer that today runs across the mighty peaks. I've read that the band is much smaller and easier to cross on Cho Oyu (8201m, the  mountain Paul climbed last year) compared to this part of it, on Everest.

Climbing the Geneva Spur in the early hours of the morning to reach the  South Col

Part of the climb from Camp 3 to Camp 4 - This is actually Kenton Cool, taken today.

Tomorrow is rest day and they can get plenty of fluids in them. The next blog I do will be to hopefully tell you Paul's on his way to the summit! Cross everything.

Natalie