Downhill all the way – (the final entry!)

26th May

Early tomorrow morning the jeeps should arrive to whisk us down into Nepal over the next couple of days. By Sunday we'll be in Kathmandu and hopefully tucking into the food we have been dreaming of for weeks. Over the next few days the team will be making their way back to UK. For the cyclists in particular it will be quite a culture shock after nearly six months away.

Plenty has been written about the last couple of weeks and events continue to unfold at a furious pace. Many teams have now left the mountain but there are still climbers attempting the mountain. Yesterday evening we heard the tragic news that another two climbers died near the summit. These events continue to humble us all. The number of deaths on our route now runs well into double figures and it would appear that this year surpasses that of 1996 in terms of tragedy. Perhaps as many as one in ten of the climbers who arrived here at basecamp will simply not be going home.

All of this makes it even more incredible that out of 12 original climbers we have had 7 make it to the summit and return completely unscathed. As leader I can't begin to think how lucky we have been that this is the case. However, I would maintain that much of our success is down to our sensible approach to the mountain and solid teamwork. The latter is down to one's ability to swallow your pride and learn from others wherever possible. We were a relatively inexperienced team with only two of us ever having been above 7000m. Yet we worked together well, discussed everything openly and shared skills and experience at every opportunity. I can't praise the individuals on the team enough for this approach. It has quite literally saved lives and ensured the overall success of the expedition.

None of us who made the summit I think is at all smug at our achievement. We have witnessed enough disaster over the last few days to know how privileged we are to have been there, and most importantly to have returned. For myself reaching the summit led more to a feeling of relief rather than elation. A realisation that two years of planning and six months of execution had finally come together in a moment that I thought might never happen.

I'm sure all of us will return from this experience humble rather than arrogant and keen to pass on everything that we have learnt and experienced. The success of the expedition has surpassed my expectations and my thanks go to all the team for making it that way. Firm friendships have been forged over the last few months and I'm sure many of the team will go onto further ventures, perhaps together.

Finally I would like to thank all our supporters back home for following our progress so closely and in many cases supporting us financially. Maintaining the website has been hard work but none of us have any regrets. It has been worth it to know the level of support and encouragement behind us all the way. It seems a good time to remind everyone that we are still raising money for our three sponsored charities and recruiting official supporters. Do continue to monitor the website for the latest news. We hope to have two film premieres in the autumn, one in Cheltenham and one in London. All are welcome to these and we will post details as soon as possible. Invitations will be on the way to our official supporters. Furthermore a book may even be in the pipeline! Thanks again and we hope to see many of you soon....

Posted by Dom

Reasons for not going for the summit - from Sarah and Andre

25th May

From Sarah:

It's common knowledge that I am the least experienced climber of the overland cycling team. While I was always happy to climb I said from the beginning that I was not willing to put anyone's life in danger or compromise anyone else's summit attempt. With everything that happened before we left ABC for the summit I was extremely nervous about going up and seriously considered not going at all. However, I needed to feel that I'd given it my best shot in order to walk away from the mountain satisfied.

On my way up the North Col I met Philippe, the French man Andrew wrote about yesterday, who was also in floods of tears when I spoke to him. It was very unnerving, particularly when I found out he was talking about Jacques. Then we came across Vince and finally I spoke to Pauline. She and I had a very frank conversation about the summit route, how technical it was, how tiring, how isolated and it ended with her saying “If you were my daughter I wouldn't want you to go anywhere near it.” I had been pretty certain I wasn't going to try for the summit before leaving ABC but that conversation and all the news of people dying that we received in that twenty four hour period confirmed it. I radioed down to ABC to ask them to email my family and let them know I wasn't going for the summit. I was aiming for Camp 3; I hoped it might relieve some of the worry.

After making that decision I was so much happier. It meant that I really enjoyed the climb up to Camp 3. There were some really gruelling sections, particularly up to Camp 2 without oxygen. I was down to 5 steps at a time and it was a really physical and mental challenge to reach the tents. Once there I seemed to have lost my appetite (a common consequence of high altitude) but forced down a chicken pasta ‘boil in the bag' anyway. I promptly threw it all up again, thankfully I was sharing a tent with Dr Andrew who didn't seem to mind vomit!

The views from both high camps were spectacular and utterly breathtaking. When I opened my tent door on the morning of the boys summit attempt I was shocked by how high I was. I really felt on top of the world even at Camp 3 so it must have been an even more intense feeling on the summit. My principle duty up there was to provide fluid for the returning summiteers, that was fine, though collecting the snow was quite exposed to put it mildly! Happily the boys came back unscathed and we descended back down to ABC without incident.

As for Everest in general, despite the doom and gloom we have told you about I would highly recommend people to come here to Base Camp. It is a truly beautiful mountain and wonderful to behold. As for going higher I would talk to someone with firsthand experience of the route and have a long hard think; we heard of another 5 deaths on the mountain today which takes the toll up to 20 this year including sherpas on both sides.

It has been a fantastic 5 months. The cycle ride took us through a massive variety of environments and cultures and the variety has continued on the mountain; we have seen many changes as the monsoon approaches. I think you could call this expedition ‘the trip of a lifetime'. Many congratulations to Dom for masterminding, organising and executing such a successful expedition. The statistics are shown on the home page and speak for themselves. It has been a joy to be a part of the Everestmax team. Thank you.

From Andre (written before he left Base Camp):

I have just got back to base camp after one of the hardest weeks of my life mentally and physically on the mountain and now get ready to head back to Kathmandu and then home. As a team it is has been a huge success in getting Baz, Chris, Phil and particularly Pauline Sanderson as she is the first person to have completed the longest climb on Earth from the shores of the Dead Sea to the summit of Everest.

I made a conscious decision to turn back from my summit attempt; I was about to leave for it on May 18 th. However, the last few days on the mountain have been horrific and it was an easy decision to make in the end.

Even though Baz and Chris summitted their experience at the top of the mountain was not pleasant. Chris had struggled with his oxygen all the way from camp three and at 3am in the morning was really suffering, at this moment his oxygen was changed and Baz and him managed to clear the block on the inflow valve. After they summitted Chris began to struggle on the summit pyramid and Baz had a real situation on his hands. We had the radio call at 6.30am from Baz, who didn't at the time think he could get Chris off the mountain and at 8700m there is not a lot we could do apart from contact other expeditions to see if they had any climbers high on the mountain who might be able to help. We as a team were very concerned that we might loose Chris and thankfully he found the strength through the help of Baz to get back to camp three and safety.

To add to my decision there have been far too many deaths on the mountain, a English climber called David who summitted without oxygen and late in the day was discovered by a group of American climbers the following day and was still alive, they gave him oxygen and tried to help him but he wanted to be left alone to sleep and was too far gone to be helped at that height. The same day I heard that an Indian climber had fallen off the second step and a Korean climber had died near the summit. At base camp we as a team had got to know the French team of husband and wife Jacques and Caroline and their friend Roland very well, I had heard that on the 17 th that Jacques and Roland were going for the summit but had arrived very late. On the way down Jacques collapsed and his friend Roland tried to carry him and help him, but had to leave him as he was physically exhausted and needed to also get down and he sadly died. Caroline his wife came around to our mess tents this morning to ask whether we had any sherpas high who could gather some of his personal artefacts and was a in a total state as one would expect. This news hit the team extremely hard. To add to the misery, Thomas the climber/skier from Sweden who I had walked up to ABC with 6 days ago died when his belay device snapped when being lowered onto the grand couloir, which he intended to ski down. There have been other horrific accidents but these last two and Chris's incident made me question my summit attempt and given the huge risks and that one is never really in control at that altitude and my commitment to my darling wife and two gorgeous boys that I would come home I felt the only decision was not to go for the summit.

I have always wanted to climb on Everest and though I have not summitted I have fulfilled a dream and climbed over 25,000ft and have had one of my greatest experiences in my life.

What I have found amazing is that I have read all the books on Everest and watched all the films but until you are here and part of the scene you never appreciate the real dangers and I suppose this has been re-inforced by actually knowing a number of the people who have died this year. Also what seems terrifying this year is the statistic of 1/10 dying after summitting.

Many great mountaineers have turned back from Everest and I now feel privileged to join those ranks. More than anything the most important thing for me is getting home safely to see my family and I have no regrets over my decision of turning back from my summit attempt.

Posted by Sarah and Andre

The final summit

24th May

On the 21 st May Dom, Jamie and I summited Mount Everest. This is a particular achievement for Dom who has led the expedition from the Dead Sea. At one point he was so ill with altitude illness that we thought he may need to go home but now he has triumphed and completed the longest journey on earth.

Although elation is starting to settle in, it is by no means the only emotion we are feeling at the moment. This is because this was not only the most physically demanding challenge we have ever faced but for our group in particular we faced a much more gruelling psychological battle. As Pauline mentioned, her, Phil, Seb and Chris summited early and were largely ignorant of events that have been unfolding on the mountain. We in contrast had to deal with everything we saw and heard before summiting. This started while we were still basecamp visiting another team to say goodbye. While we were there we heard their radio communications with their clients. They had come across a near-dead climber with severe frostbite of his face and all 4 limbs. He had been at 8500m for at least 24 hours and all he said was that he wanted to sleep. Rescue at this altitude, with a person in this condition, was both extremely dangerous and near impossible. As Dom, Jamie, Nick, Sarah and I left base camp for ABC, this knowledge weighed heavily in our minds. Our thoughts were not lightened by the sight of those returning from the summit. Many of them were being carried down on yaks due to exhaustion or frostbite. It felt like they were returning ‘from the front' and now it was our turn to take their place.

When we arrived at ABC we concentrated on our colleague's summit attempts. Seb and Chris had gone first. The first radio communication we received from Seb was ‘We have summited, but Chris is in a bad way and I am not sure I can get him down alone'. This was a terrifying thing to hear – we all know the rescue options from 8600m are essentially non-existent. Nevertheless we all went to visit all the other teams to mobilise help should it be needed. Fortunately Chris's unwell episode was short-lived and he was able to get himself down the 2 nd step and off the mountain. Although all was well – the thought of something going wrong had shaken us all. Andre, with a wife and two kids waiting for him at home, decided not to go for the summit – a brave and correct decision. We then waited nervously for news of our next summiteers – Phil and Pauline. Thankfully their summit attempt was without incident and buoyed by their success, Dom, Jamie and I decided to go for the summit. Sarah decided to go as far as Camp 3 (8050m).

As we climbed the North Col I met Phillipe, a member of a French team we had become friendly with. He embraced me in floods of tears. He had lost a friend, Jacques, and was distraught. After telling me how awful it was up there he finally wished me luck for the summit and reassured me that everything would be OK for me. I have to say it didn't feel that way! I was close to tears after this emotional encounter with Phillipe – was I mad to still contemplate the summit?? I continued up the North Col and things did not get any better. I came across Vince – a Canadian we had met who was attempting Everest without oxygen. Sarah had tried to help him but he could not move up or down the mountain because we was too breathless. He clearly had HAPE and if left to his own devices was going to die on the mountain. He had no colleagues with him and his sherpas had abandoned him. I too tried to encourage him to climb the 10m up to the North Col – he couldn't. Eventually I had to clip him into my harness and pull him up to the North Col. His tent was too far away so I just put him in nearest empty tent. Meanwhile Dom had tried to mobilise help from the 7 Summits team - they refused to help despite being a large organisation. Dom then brought oxygen from our camp about 150m away which I used to treat him along with Dexamethasone and Nifedipine. Once he was stabilised I continued the climb to our camp before returning later to check on him with sleeping bag, food and fluids. I spent a nervous night before checking on him again in the morning with a fresh oxygen cylinder. I was relieved he was still alive but he was still very weak and needed rescuing. His trekking company, Monterosa, were very unhelpful. They had promised Nick, who had been liasing with them at ABC, that they would send up a Shepa team with oxygen to bring him down. One sherpa did arrive, but refused to help and instead went to Camp 3 to dismantle it. I'm not sure whether he had personal differences with Vince – but still - the guy was dying. Salvation came in the form of a Spanish team who were also clients of Monterosa. I have to say, although I'm bloke, they were all fit good looking guys. They had summited two days earlier but showed no signs of the physical deterioration that other summiteers did. They heroically got Vince down to ABC where he was seen by Jonathan, a doctor from the Irish team that Nick had organised. All this ended at about 11.30am and at 12.00 we left for Camp 2. Fortunately, I had had no real time to think about whether I wanted to proceed further.

Although I had been to Camp 2 before (7500m), this time with a full pack it was much harder. Again, our nerves were tested by the sight of another company's client being lowered down the mountain by rope suffering with exhaustion and frostbite. By the time we reached the camp 2 I was severely breathless. This was perhaps not surprising as my oxygen saturation were only 54%. Fortunately, I could now start using oxygen. My oxygen saturations were now back to 97% - the same as sea level! Now that I was fully oxygenated I thought it was time to really contemplate whether to go for the summit or not. I knew I wanted to go for it but in the face of so much tragedy it did seemed foolish in the extreme. However, I knew Everest was a dangerous place before I came here and had always decided to take each step at a time. This approach had led to me safely getting to 7600m. My two greatest fears were exhaustion on the return journey and ‘loosing my mind' from HACE or otherwise. The latter troubled me most as it involved losing the faculties to detect whether I was becoming confused or not. I was venturing into the unknown – I had never climbed above 8000m or with oxygen. My game plan was constant self-assessment and re-assessment. Every half-hour or so I would say to myself am I alright? How is my breathing? How is my balance/walking? Am I thinking straight? Have I got enough energy? Shall I go on? I also took this approach with my colleagues – always observing their behaviour and checking for any changes. Their assistance with me was also essential – they were really the only ones who could check that I still had all my faculties intact. Before I left England I had made a promise to Becky – a promise that I would come back (with toes and fingers intact!). I took this promise very seriously and I thought about it constantly that night. In the morning I had resolved to go on – but with a low threshold for turning back should I detect any problems.

The climb to camp 3 with oxygen was pleasant a surprise. The oxygen felt good and I felt strong. Throughout the expedition I have always had one of the lowest oxygen saturations. I had always hoped that this would mean that I would have a greater beneficial affect when I was on oxygen – this seemed to be the case. We arrived at Camp 3 in good time and I have to say this is one of the most spectacularly beautiful but dangerous campsites I have ever stayed in.

We brewed and ate as much as we could to prepare for the summit. We also tried to sleep for an hour or two. I couldn't sleep a wink. I kept unzipping the tent and looking up to the summit to check that it was still clear. At 11.30 we left camp 3 for the summit. Initially nervous, I gained confidence as I went on. The oxygen made all the difference. The ‘second step' a 20 meter rock climb at 8500m was truly terrifying. My only real rock climbing experience is from a young age barefoot climbing the cliff's of Marloes beach in Pembrokeshire. I remembered that familiar feeling of fear when being on a narrow ledge and thinking ‘have I gone too far here?'. Balancing on a narrow overhang on Everest I looked thousands of feet below I got that feeling again. I responded the same way as I had as a kid – I closed my eyes and hugged the rock for a few moments before taking a deep breath and carrying on.

From the second step things became a little easier as we went over the ‘third step' and started to climb the summit pyramid. Before reaching the summit you skirt around a steep rocky face. It was here that we found Jacques' body – the 4 th body we had come across so far. Jacques, a friend we had made during the expedition, was the person Phillipe was referring to. Pauline had radioed on the eve of our summit bid having met Jacques wife Caroline who had not seen him since he had left camp 3 a few days earlier. She was desperate for us to retrieve his wedding ring, which was round his neck. Dom said ‘what shall we do?' I said ‘let's go to the summit and think about it on the way down'. 8800m was not the place to be disconnecting yourself from the fixed rope to retrieve personal effect from a dead person – it needed some thought.

We arrived at the summit at about 8.30am, some 9 hours after our departure. Our sherpas Karma and Tshering were already there and the celebrations began. I can't really describe the emotion I felt – just to say that I welled up inside. You really do feel on top of the world – the clouds and other peaks are so far below. It was bitterly cold with a temperature of -30 degrees C and wind speed of about 50 knots. I felt privileged to be with Dom and Jamie – 2 cyclists who had come all the way from the Dead Sea – what a journey!!

On the way down we still had that unanswered question ‘what shall we do about Jacques?' When we arrived back at the site of the body I still felt strong and decided to retrieve the wedding ring. I had very personal reasons for doing this. Only days earlier I had taken my own wedding ring off and put it on a piece of string round my neck. It's dangerous to wear it in case of frostbite. In a morbid moment I had imagined how awful it would be if that were all that was returned to Becky. I felt it was the least I could do for Caroline who was now grieving in base camp. I unclipped myself from the fixed line and Dom lowered me the 10 meters down to Jacques body on a piece of old climbing rope. I didn't look at his face; I just unzipped his clothes and ripped the rope from his neck. It was not an easy thing to do. I then pulled myself up the rope and with great relief attached myself back to the fixed lines. I will meet Caroline in Kathmandu in a few days time to return Jacques wedding ring. It is desperately sad.

We continued our descent. Although tiring, we knew we had enough energy to get down. We were a strong team. This was very much in contrast to some other climbers who were struggling. Jamie had to wait 1 hour at the 2 nd step while sharps tried to get one of the exhausted climbers down. Dom lost a crampon on the 2 nd step which made his descent twice as exhausting as he had to abseil down every fixed rope. At about 1.30pm we arrived back at Camp 3. Sarah was waiting for us and provided us with some much needed drinks. I collapsed into an almost immediate deep sleep. Ideally we would have headed down to the lower, safer Camp 2 but it was a bit late for that. Instead, we opted for a second night at 8050m sleeping on oxygen. Later we learnt that one of the struggling climbers with a commercial company had died. The mountain had claimed another victim.

When I arrived at Camp 2 I became overcome with emotion – I started to cry. This is quite unlike me and I'm still not sure what emotion I was feeling. Was it relief, elation, shock, sadness? I don't know. As I have descended further the true enormity of what we have achieved has started to settle in. I probably won't know exactly how I feel about everything for a few weeks. What I do know is I have made some great friends and had an amazing experience. Everest is truly beautiful, and the views from her slopes are stunning. Unfortunately the lack of oxygen sucks the life out of too many that try to climb her slopes. It was with great relief yesterday that I removed my wedding ring from my neck and placed it back on my ring finger. I am looking forward to going home.

As to the location of everyone on the mountain, we are now all safely down at Base Camp.

Posted by Andrew

Never again…!!

23rd May

We can honestly say that we had no idea we were the first British couple to summit Everest! Now we are back at Base Camp, we are just starting to appreciate the level of media interest it has generated. As proud as I am I would really prefer them to pick up on the fact that we also have just done the longest climb in the world, which involved cycling over 8000km, all the way from the Dead Sea in Jordan! Will somebody wise them up please?

As for the summit day what can I say? It was long, hard and very scary. Nobody really talks about the final route. We set off in the dark at 9:30pm. We were wearing more kit than it seems possible to walk in. Then we left the relative safety and warmth of our tent to clip onto a thin rope that we knew had been used by hundreds of sherpas and clients over the last few days (trust is a great thing). We started to walk in pace with our breath… slowly, and I had a steady paranoia all the way that my oxygen flow would either be cut off or run out before our return.

…The perfect recipe for a night out so far?!!

The first hour or so is a steady plod to get to the ridge and then it all begins… The ridge involves several hours of negotiating steep steps, rock climbing and precarious snow ledges. At about 8500m I was contemplating how totally isolated we were.. if anything went wrong it would be nearly impossible to get us down safely even with willing rescuers. Just as this was going through my mind I had to bend over to unhitch my rope which had caught in something as I was carefully manoeuvring round a narrow snow ledge… my rope had caught in the crampon of a dead man who was frozen in his grave. It sent shivers down my spine and I hesitated before carrying on. Was it all worth it? I convinced myself that he had done something stupid and that Phil and I had prepared everything to a fault and we would be fine. We had also agreed that at the slightest sign of exhaustion or unease about our disposition we would turn back immediately.

Next we came to the ‘Second Step' which now has a fixed ladder. I asked myself if this is really mountaineering? I would argue yes – there was nothing simple about it - but yet again it throws a question mark as to whether you should be here if you need such aids. I was incredibly grateful for it although now I have heard it is the site of many bad accidents, especially on the busy days. Phil and I consciously decided to avoid the busiest day of the season because of hazards that come with the potential crowds and subsequent waiting. We were lucky and didn't have to queue on the way up or down.

After about 7 hours we came to the main snow face which took us back to a steady plod and almost felt like light relief compared to the constant concentration we had just undergone for the last five hours. The summit seemed like it was only an hour away until the fixed line cruelly took us around a corner and onto the most hazardous stretch of the route so far. It was steep broken ground that felt dreadfully unstable. Then, yet again, a sinking feeling overwhelmed us as we saw a body hanging from a rope. We couldn't ignore it. We had to physically step over the line. Questions raced through my head again but we were less than 45 minutes from the summit, we couldn't turn back now!!

As we turned the corner we could see that the final 20 minutes was back to a steady snow plod. There was the summit in front of us. At last, we had worked for nearly 6 weeks for this moment. The sky was blue, the wind was minimal… conditions were perfect. We were so lucky. We arrived at the top and got out the radio to let the team, who were anxiously waiting below, that we had finally topped out and that the Everestmax challenge was complete! We heard them all cheering us on and it was an incredibly special moment for me as we had worked so well together as a team and to know we could share the moment together was fantastic. Just to add icing to the cake….WE BEAT WINKLER!!!!

Phil and I had a hug and took some photos but to be honest we knew our 9 hour ascent meant at least a 6 hour descent and safety dictated a short stay at the top. We were now in bright daylight and the wind was still light so we made the most of it and went as fast as we could. We felt very strong but kept passing people on their way up who looked like they needed to be in bed with a drip, not pushing themselves to the summit of Everest. Their dedicated sherpas were encouraging them every step of the way. The problem is, getting to the top is only half way. Getting down is just as technical and with little scope for using belay devices, it meant we had to clip in and have our wits about us all the time because if we were to slip we would fall to the next anchor which could be a long way away. Being clipped in just stops you falling off the mountain, it doesn't stop you falling a long way and getting hurt. It is interesting that most of the accidents or deaths this year have happened on the way down!

We only had one scary moment on the way down when I lost my oxygen supply!!! Phil apparently saw me waving in a panic - my mask was off and my face had turned a pale shade of blue. All was put right very quickly once he found that the source of the problem was a twist in my pipe. I LOVE OXYGEN!......AND PHIL!

We got back to Camp 3 by noon and relaxed for a couple of hours. We had drunk and eaten en route but nothing could quite quench the depletion of energy that we were feeling. It will take several days for that to happen. We left a couple of hours later for Camp 2 and in the space of that time, it had changed from a beautiful day to a windy, snowy Everest nightmare for anybody still up there. We got to Camp 2 in an hour and a half and collapsed in a heap feeling that being at 7500m was relative safety. We slept!

The next morning the wind and snow had not relented. Due to an unfortunate miscommunication, the food we had stored at Camp 2 had been eaten so Phil and I were running on empty. Put this alongside the fact we had just climbed Everest the day before, we were feeling very tired and vulnerable. We needed to get down to the North Col where there was plenty of food for us to recharge. It felt like a huge effort, so much so that we decided to use oxygen to help us down. It made all the difference and when we got there we were able to talk rather than grunt at Dom, Jamie, Sarah and Dr Andrew who were waiting to go up for their adventure. It was great to see them if only for an hour. The radio is fantastic but face-to-face brings in all the emotions too. It wasn't long before they left and with them went all my concerns…!

Phil and I stayed at the North Col to eat, drink and relax as there was no rush to get down. We kept talking to people coming down whom we knew and it was then that the horrors of the past few days started to dawn on us. We were lucky enough to have had a text book ascent with no hitches. In the space of the 4 days we had been on the mountain 5 people had died and several had lost joints and limbs to frost bite. Each story made my feeling of euphoria diminish as we realised that the “Everest Circus” was becoming an “Everest Graveyard” and our friends were about to visit! The worst news was that the body hanging 100m from the summit was our friend Jacques and we hadn't even known it. We were absolutely stunned.

The next day when we got down to ABC, Nic and Norbar came to meet us and carried our rucksacks the last hour (they are the sexiest men on earth!). When we finally got to our mess tent, I sat down and just burst into tears. The whole roller-coaster of emotions that go with the success and tragedy of the last 5 days all spilled out. I needed to call home straight away. I needed to hear success and joy and not dwell on all the tragedy that came with the package. It worked.

Then came the most tense night of the whole trip for me. Dom, Jamie and Dr Andrew, along with Thring and Karma were going for the summit. I didn't want them go. Too many lives had been lost already and too many people were returning maimed. We had succeeded already…stop now! I couldn't say this to them. They had as much right as me to go for it. The difference was, we went up in ignorance of the misery, they were going up with full knowledge.

Thankfully it has all ended well and they are safe and sound. We are waiting for them here at Base Camp and I have no doubt I will give them the biggest hug of their life when they arrive!!!!!!!!!!

The whole experience has been an amazing but is one I would not like to repeat…

…and never without Phil!

Posted by Pauline

Mountain Latest

22nd May

Andrew, Jamie and Sarah returned to ABC this afternoon all feeling a little tired.

Dom, trying to spend as much time as possible on the mountain and determined to make the most out of the permit price will spend tonight eating the remaining boil in the bags at the North Col. He is expected to arrive at ABC by tomorrow lunch.

Andrew, Patrick and Nic are expected at BC tomorrow afternoon.

Phil and Pauline arrived at BC just time for dinner this evening. Both are looking well and are surprised with their new found fame. They are now ploughing though all your messages.

General movements will become clearer in the morning.

Look forward to Phil and Pauline's blog and photos from the summit tomorrow.

Posted by Dickie

Patrick Makes ABC

22nd May

At approximately 1500hrs, Patrick Worthington of Strattord, age unspecified, was sighted drinking tea with team doctor and Everest summiteer, Andrew Sutherland at ABC.

'It's big.' said a surprised Patrick who has been acting as base camp manager for the last 6 weeks. 'Tigers, many tigers.....'

Fortunately the Doctor had just returned from the summit and was able to administer tranquilizers. It appears that he has a mild dose of High Altitude Insanity which can only be cured by a brief visit to the bottom of the North Col before returning to Base Camp tomorrow evening.

Posted by Dickie