Camp 2 Training Day

Today was a short training day about 3 hours & then an early start tomorrow back to Everest Base Camp and then a flight to Kathmandu. It's sunny and bright and it was a very pleasant day here at Camp 2, after the winds have calmed after blowing strong all last night. They evacuated someone by helicopter today. After a breakfast of an omelet with toast, Chhiring and I left camp at 9:15 am and climbed 795 feet uphill on mostly deep snow & blue ice to reach 22,000 ft. We crossed many massive crevasses over large snow bridges with ease. We climbed for about 3 hours and covered 2.3 miles out and back. It was a good idea to ascend to that elevation. The winds would gust up to 40 mph and I ended up catching a head cold with congestion and sneezing. I should have had better protection on my head I guess. The weather has not been cooperating for the mountain operations and the rope fixing teams. The basic work needed to set up the infrastructure on the mountain is running behind because of high wind and deep snow.

We sleep here tonight (21,300 ft) then pack up. The plan is to wake up at 5:00 am - leave at 6:00 am. We will head down to Camp 1 then through the Khumbu Ice Fall returning to Everest Base Camp. We should arrive at EBC at 10:00 am. With good weather and a little luck we should able to get back to Kathmandu in time for supper- but it will a long shot.