Getting up at the crack of dawn?

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22nd April

02:45am, it?s minus 7 degrees, there?s 2inches of snow on the ground and I?m getting out of my warm sleeping bag. Why?! Mike Brown, one of the Imax cameramen decided to get up with the Sherpas and leave at 3:00am. Although the snow had stopped, it was lying thickly on the ground, covering any sign of tracks or footprints from the day before. He stuck his head around the corner of the workshop tent, I issued him a radio and wished him good luck.

I hadn?t quite finished getting the radios ready, so sorted out the spare batteries for each set. By the time I had finished ?fannying? around in the workshop it was 4:15am, only 45 minutes before the net team would be up, so I decided to go and have a lie down until then.

No sooner had a shut my eyes, my alarm was going off. Boots back on and back outside into the cold air. I looked at the thermometer, it was now -9 degrees. I thought that Kit Spencer said we wouldn?t be having anymore bad weather?! I cautiously walked over to the dining tent, trying to avoid the hidden rocks along the path and icy patches. A few of the team had been over the day before and a simple fall out here could cause major problems.

Pema was standing outside the tent, a cup of Sherpa tea in his hands.

?Morning Pema. What do you think then??!

?Not good today. Too dangerous for Sherpa with heavy load?.

The track to Camp 1 would have been covered and many small splits in the glacier would be hidden. Since 3 o?clock I had heard about a dozen or more large avalanches, the weight of snow triggering them off.

?But Mike Brown has already left, at 3 this morning?, I said with some concern. If the Sherpas don?t think it?s safe to go, then our team certainly shouldn?t be climbing today.

?No Sherpa, no climb?, replied Pema. ?Mike is still in bed!?

Dan, Chris and Andre appeared from inside the dining tent, discussing the weather conditions and the dangers of climbing today. We stood outside the tent, admiring the sunrise, with cups of Sherpa tea in hand. I don?t normally like Sherpa tea and I don?t drink coffee, but when you mix the two, it is delicious. Mingma brought out a thermos flask and topped up our cups.

It was decided that no one would climb today and so I decided to go back to bed and try and get some sleep. With the sun now beating down on my tent, it looked warm and inviting.

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