Breakfast is served at 730am, we are aiming to leave base camp at 8am.

We all meet in the mess tent. Xav is pretty much done with his packing, Glenn seems to be as well, I feel a little behind in selecting the gear and what to take, what to leave behind. There is already stuff that we left at camp 2 and camp 1 so it would make sense that our packs be lighter but it’s nothing like that. After breakfast we pack in the remaining gear, my 70L mountain hardwear backpack is full to the brim. I have to push down the gear to close it, what have I taken that I shouldn’t have? It might seem safer to take more but it’s more to carry and at 6000m every extra kg counts and equals additional breathing, effort and fatigue after hours of climbing.

We are all out of our tents, zipping up the tent doors and saying goodbye to our base camp (relative) comfort for the next 4 to 5 days of pure mountain climbing.

Glenn wonders how his backpack got so big and full, Xav same and I approach the 2 guys trying to evaluate if my bag is lighter or heavier. We proceed to weighting each other’s bags but they are all disappointedly the same, we are in for a tough day of carrying.

It is time to go and cross the glacier and moraine for the 5th time already. All of us totally dread this 5th crossing. The glacier is a boulder field, and a maze making it very hard to find the right path and the shortest distance to the other ridge. After 1h30 of zigzagging, we make it to the other side and start climbing the eroded ridge that will lead us to the path leading to camp 1. That bit is very steep and requires all of us waiting for each other to avoid triggering rock fall and risking injury to those further behind. Being close together is safety. It’s all about safety and team work in the mountain and all 3 of us have the same mentality: we are here for each other, we are a team, friends and we need to always remember that. It’s too easy to become selfish and do your own thing.

Unfortunately Chris, our western leader, is sick today and unable to join us for the climb. If he gets better, he will meet us tomorrow at camp 2 directly and cover 2 days in 1 with the remaining Sherpas resting at base camp.

5 hours later, we set foot at camp 1. The temperature has dropped significantly from the forst time we went to camp 1 and could hang out in t-shirt under the sun. Now it’s too cold to stay outside too long, the day is coming to an end and we hastily start the late afternoon routine of unpacking, setting up the mattresses, packing clothes under the mattress to protect against the rocks sticking in. Camp 1 is set on rocks and not on snow so mattresses are essential to guarantee a good night of recovery sleep.

Only major issue at camp 1, as mentioned before, the tents are total crap. I wouldn’t want one of these at sea level so imagine at 5500m camp 1. Xav and I both swear in our beards inside he tent at how shit they are, no storage, low ceiling, useless insulation…and that’s after Xav spends nearly 1 hour kindly trying to improve the tent’s setup, removing rocks, tightening the pegs and ropes, latching the roof properly. So
Maybe It sounds trivial to complain when we are already in a such a tough and ‘not meant for human life’ environment but tents are our survival pad for the night, our safety and our only zone of comfort for the next 18hours so when they are shit, it SUCKS for 18 hours and 18 hours of sucking is a bloody long time when you are in the mountains and its -10 in your tent. Good night!