Logistics team blog

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I turned in at about 10:00pm, clear skies overhead and almost a full moon. It was a wonderful night, but did make a complete mockery of the weather forecast that we had received.

4:00am and my bladder was bursting, too much ?hot lemon Tang? at dinner time no doubt. As I opened my eyes, it seemed awfully dark inside my tent, even though the moonlit sky normally lets me see enough to find my head torch. The roof of the tent looked blacker than before.

I unzipped the rear of the tent to see a huge amount of snow on the ground, probably 6 inches or more. It might have been 36 hours late, but the weather man was right after all.

With the morning light glistening upon the snowy ground, it was a perfect opportunity to get some sponsors photos done. The conditions were just perfect and although I am by no means the best photographer in the world, it was easy to get good images that flatter the products of Honda, Milsys and others. After an hour or so wandering around the camp, it was time for breakfast.

Patrick Doyle, under the influence of Kay Mitchell had kicked off a huge snowball fight, there were snowballs flying in all directions. At first I joined the side of the ?Allies?, against the ?Axis? of the Sherpas, led by Graham Hoyland. Protecting myself with a dining chair, like a Roman Centurion, I advanced forward launching a hail of snowballs at the traitor Graham.

After a full-on scuffle in which I got drenched in snow, I retreated to the safety of the dining tent. It wasn?t long though before I had to rejoin the action and crept around the back and decided to shift sides and have a go at the ?Allies?. I was doing well and hiding behind the cover of a large stone wall, until Sundeep popped up from nowhere and caught me square on in the face ? git!!

Being out-numbered by the Caudwell team, I decided to defect and join them against the increasing numbers of Sherpas. They had the advantage of the high ground and it was time to make a stand and head for the top, to reclaim what was rightfully hours ? Puja Hill.

Armed to the teeth with as many snowballs as we could carry, we charged forwards, screaming as loudly as we could and punched a hole through their defences. The fighting was so intense and I was so focused on my objective that I didn?t realise until I got there that I was alone. In true British style there was only one thing for it, to hold the position until reinforcements came!

The advantage of the high ground gave me a ?bird?s-eye? view of the battlefield. From there I could launch snowballs at will, scoring a direct hit on one of the cooks who thought he was out of range.

The ?Axis? forces soon realised what was going on and there was a mad dash between them and the ?Allies? for the top. Reinforcements arrived, but the ground wasn?t held for long, the Sherpas throwing everything they had at us. When every last round had been spent, it was down to hand-to-hand fighting, but with defeat in sight we had to give up and surrender.

After breakfast Paul Gunning came over to take a few shots for sponsors, but was called away by Kay as John Caudwell, along with Tina, were approaching the camp and she needed him to take photos.

I had lunch and then gave them half an hour or so before wandering down to the other camp to see Tina. It was lovely to see her again, a huge avalanche had fallen just as she and John had arrived and the snow started again.

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Blog by Mac Mackenney