Into THICK air

The last few days have been on the move. We visited Pumori Camp 1, which had fantastic views of Everest and surrounding peaks.

Pumori Camp 1

I went up there with Kenton and Keith as they had filming to do for the Samsung Olympic Games Pledge. Interesting watching Kenton try over and over again to get his lines right. I reckon 16 takes and we got what we wanted.

Kenton Cool and Keith Partridge

Keith the cameraman filming the expedition - just another day at the office really!

I believe the news back home has been reporting quite a bit about the departure of Russell Brice the 'King of the Mountain'! He departed with the view that the ice fall was too dangerous and would put his team at risk. Russell runs a massive operation and has more sherpas and members than any other group, which results in more people moving through the ice fall every day, so maybe he didn't fancy his chances. He was also taking the 'Walking with Wounded' up to the summit, so maybe the media surrounding this spooked him and may have added to his decision to leave, who knows. His decision to pull the expedition was a shock to all of base camp and the fact that only he has departed, leads me to believe the conditions can not be that unfamiliar to previous years. Another fact is that Russell has only been operating on the south side of the mountain for 4 years, so his experience and knowledge of the ice fall is not as extensive as other team leaders.

People at home, please do not be alarmed as the media could be blowing this out of proportion.


My mate Rob and I, decided to trek down to Pangboche, a drop of 1500m 'into thick air'.

The trek and surrounding peaks

On route we stopped of at Pheriche and met up with Victor Saunders, it was also good to catch up with Neil Beard and the rest of the team.

Pheriche

Birds eye view of Pangboche

We are staying at the Sonam Lodge and were greeted by friends and climbing partners. The evening was filled with eating Dal Bat (sherpa food) and drinking a few beers.

Sonam Lodge

Nepalese children eating Dal Bat - Paul loves it, but then he loves food!

Tomorrow we're planning to go to a festival in a monastery, then we'll visit Lama Geshe for a blessing prior to our summit bid. The next day it's back to base camp.

Lama Geshe