The long haul...

Hi All, its Walid here. Above are two photos of high up on the mountain. The first is the view from High Camp and the second is of the second step, a place where max could find the mountain a little more crowded.

If ever there were a dull moment on Everest these next few weeks will be it. Sound strange, I know, but now that the climbers have reached the mountain, made it to the North Col, enjoyed the views, etc, they have to go through this grunt phase before anything really new happens. They will go back up to the North Col, spend the night, and go a little higher but the real new action begins when the summit bids start. This is probably, and we shall see from Max's own report later, the time when friendships solidify, teams are formed and each person does his or her own mental preparation. This is also a time when the trusty Sherpas are moving gear higher on the mountain and getting the route established for the summit bids.

Regarding the summit, I recently send Max an email with my advice regarding his summit bid. Of course, he is the one to make his own choices but I have recommended that he leave high camp earlier than other teams to avoid being stuck in a crowd. As long as he and his summit mates keep the stove working and water in their bottles they should, in my opinion, leave camp early so as to avoid what is called 'bottlenecking'. Which is when many climbers get stuck on tougher sections of the route, see the photo above. In my opinion, if you put aside the risks of altitude, the single biggest risk that Max and his team mates face are other climbers. Max is surely ready and fit for this and I assume he will chose summit mates who are also fit and ready, but does he know about all the other people on the mountain? No. Therefore, it has been my suggestion to stay ahead of them on summit day in order to ensure his success and safety. Once summit time comes I will post more on the specifics of the route, the time line and some photos of up higher on the mountain. Best to all, Walid