8th October
We’ve been resting and waiting at basecamp for the last 4 days, looking for a possible weather window to make our summit bit. It looks like it is finally arriving. Right now we’re banking on a summit attempt on the 12th of October. We’ll actually be leaving basecamp in the very early hours of the 9th of October to do up to camp 1 to drink some warm fluids and eat before continuing up to camp 2 where all of our equipment is stashed. It should take us between 7-8 hours in total with lite packs.
By far the best summit window of the season was between the 3rd and 5th of October but Ben and I were still acclimatizing (as were a number of other groups) and could take advantage of the fine , calm weather. It also meant that we missed the long lines of people on the fixed lines and the hordes on the summit, over two days we think that over 100 people summited. Himex alone put more than 40 people on the summit (including sherpa’s)
So now there will be about 3-4 groups on the hill overt the next few days, with a total of about 20 people trying to make a summit bid. Some groups have opted for an early window, not choosing to believe the wind forecast and choosing instead to trade of totally clear skies for low temperatures and wind chill. we’re planning on the lowest wind day to hopefully allow me to make a summit flight with my speed wing. Right now I’m estimating my chances of even thinking of making a flight attempt at about 50% due to the wind.
We’ll just have to wait and see if the forecast is is better than expected. If I can’t fly from the summit I expect to mask an attempt from around 7500m or just below main summit ridge line at about 7200m where I should be protected from the prevailing winds.
Sophie will keep the blog updated over the coming days and if the wind seems to drop a bit later on we’ll delay our summit attempt in favor of lower wind levels.
CIAO
Mal