climbing

Summit Day 08:15 - Wes has got the stove going and snow melting. There's a light breeze, clear skies; it's definitely a summit day. 10:30 - We're on the road. There are at least a few teams above us on the autobahn

Rest at High Camp 02:00 - A rescue is in progress. Someone saw a team fall from the top of the autobahn (~1,500 feet) shortly ago. The very top. High camp is partially populated by one team of a dozen or so men of Dutch military, German military,

Rest at High Camp 01:00 - I haven't slept at all. My mattress is flat and it's killing me. Inflating the mat really requires the participation of both people in the tent and I'd rather not do that right now. 03:00 -

Rest at Camp 5 09:00 - Gusts of wind are hitting the tent. Shockingly, I think the weather report last night may have been inaccurate. Gasp. Today is definitely a rest day. Mike said that the 3am weather report (?) claimed that there would be 35 mph winds tonight and

Camp 4 to Camp 5 09:30 - Despite moderately high winds all night, this morning was bright and clear. Mike's team was already resting part way up the headwall when we first looked out of the tent. We aren't the early birds in any sense.

Rest at Camp 4 Nicely timed to make it easy for me to as least partially honor the sabbath, the weather today was marginally too bad to make a move to high camp, and increasingly sucky throughout the day. We saw several teams descend from here, including Mike's

Acclimatize at 15,300 10:00 - After a granola breakfast, we geared up and headed towards the upper west rib. We climbed to 15,300, which when viewed from back at camp hardly qualifies as an achievement. We turned around when we hit a crevasse with no obvious snow

Rest at Camp 4 No amazing climbs today, or rescues, or bodies being transported. Today (and all of last night) was marked by high winds and snow; we probably got a foot or more snow altogether. The high winds helped carry some of it off. A blessing and a curse.

Rest at Camp 4 09:45 - These puffy pants are amazing. If I combined them with my parka (which is presently serving as a pillow), I could probably forego a sleeping bag entirely. It's an interesting thought. Maybe use the goretex sleeping bag cover to stay dry?

Back carry from 13,500 to Camp 4 10:30 - We woke up late, as usual. I guess if waking up late is usual, then we woke up on time. As usual. Like previous nights, I slept warm up until the last few hours, and then I couldn'