It's all over?

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It?s over and we are back, members and Sherpas. Well?the Sherpas are all down each night in base camp, but return to the mountain to camp 1 to retrieve all the equipment for the next few days. This is still dangerous as the icefall is still constantly changing with regular cracking and avalanches. Twenty five summits for the team, including 4 Sherpa brothers on the summit at the same time and their nephew. Not bad, but needless to say we are all relieved to be down safely and looking immensely forward to going home to see family and friends.

So what was it like? What was it like going through the icefall, the Western Cwm, The Lhotse Face and beyond?

Mike Grocott; Expedition Leader: ?It was a wonderful moment cresting the South Summit and seeing for the first time the iconic view of the Hilary Step and the Summit Ridge; and feeling for the first time that success was almost ensured. Seeing all the climbers safely reach base camp and leave the ice-fall for the last time was a wonderful moment, knowing we were all safe at last.?

Pema Tarki Sherpa; Chief Expedition Sirdhar and after coming to Everest for 20 years, attained his 1st summit: ?It was harder than I thought and I think one is enough. I was very excited and happy?.

Andre Vercueil (South Col): ?Climbing across the vast bowl of burning ice that is the Lhotse Face, impossible vistas reaching to the horizon ? small gestures of shared water forging friendships and joy. The mountain remains aloof as she falls, a rag-doll dance that has only one end. We have been permitted to leave safely, dreams fulfilled, bonds created.? Andre also participated in the publicized rescue of the Nepali woman from Camp 4, as well as roping me down from Camp 3 when I was ill. Strong as an ox!

Chris Imray; Deputy Climbing Leader (1st summit): ?Having climbed through the night, the red glow of dawn filled the sky over Makalu. With each breathless step we had climbed higher until we reached the South Summit. Beyond lay the Hilary Step and the Summit of Everest. An Xtreme dream was about to be realized.?

Paul Gunning (South Col): ?It was big, hard and dangerous?.

Sundeep Dhillon; Climbing Leader (2nd Summit): To quote Sir Isaac Newton: ?If I have seen further, it is on the shoulders of giants.? (Referring to the Sherpas)

Nigel Hart (1st Summit): ?Clearly Mount Everest is full of ecstasy and agony. Unfortunately, after the ecstasy, the agony continues. After the final push, I came down as weak as a kitten, but still elated.?

Roger McMorrow (1st Summit): ?Standing in the South Col, looking at the sight of familiar scenery I had never seen before was like meeting a long lost familiar friend. It?s good to be back in the hot, humid air of base camp.?

Mick O?Dwyer (1st Summit): ?Hallucinations made the summit night easier. The view from the top was picture perfect and I started crying, as I realized I had forgotten my camera.?

Maryam Khosravi (South Col): ?It was the most inhospitable and challenging place I will ever conduct research, but it was a privilege to be an investigator at the highest laboratory in the world.?

Jeremy Windsor (1st Summit): ?Summit night reminded me of an obstetric night on-call-one man against the mountain! Jimmy, my little hallucination friend kept me going.?

Dave Rasmussen; BBC cameraman (1st summit): On the summit: ?There was nothing pristine and beautiful about it. But, on the top of Everest, you look down, way far away down. And all those big towering mountains are but small bumps and hills and ridges that creep and flow and poke way down below you and that is what is so incredible about being on top of Mount Everest.?

Dan Martin (1st Summit): ?It?s a long way to the top and seems even further to get down. It was a wonderful experience but one will be enough for me.?

Denny Levett (Camp 2): Unfortunately at the time of writing and posting, Denny was indisposed. Apart from all her valuable research, Denny also manned Camp 2, treating the sick and injured and keeping track of all the climbers and science conducted there.

Vijay Ahuja (South Col): ?My trip to the South Col was a truly exhilarating experience. The trip from Camp 3 to the South Col is stunning, although the Col itself is an inhospitable and challenging environment.?

Michael Brown; IMAX cameraman (4th Summit): ?To quote my Sherpa Chombe: 'Climbing life dangerous, kiss me quick.'?

Patrick Doyle (Me and Camp 3, 7100m): ?Unfortunately a bout of cerebral oedema changed my outcome and I returned down the mountain to help man Camp 2 with Denny. A successful journey as no brain damage, I think??

So a successful climb and 15 Sherpas also made the summit. They are as follows with numbers of summits in brackets: Pema Tarki Sherpa (1), Mingma Tsiri Sherpa (12), Thundu Sherpa (3), Pasang Tenzing Sherpa (4) ? the 4 brothers and their nephew, Tsering Pemba Sherpa (1), Pema Chering Sherpa (6), Tashi Sherpa (1), Dendi Sherpa (1), Pasang Nuru Sherpa (1), Ongda Sherpa (2), Ang Kaji Sherpa (1), Lila B. Basnet (Chombe, 1), Dawa Tenji Sherpa (5), Pemba Nuru Sherpa (5) and Phuru Gyrabjen Sherpa (1). There were also another 11 Sherpas, including the cooks, who went through the icefall carrying loads and generally looking after us.

You will have read that the Caudwell Xtreme Team was involved in a rescue, but we also saw numerous other casualties at Camp 2 and beyond. Help was provided in the form of medical expertise, oxygen and in evacuation when climbers were in distress. Up there it is a hostile environment and we were happy to help out. I have always spoken of the gratitude we have to the Sherpas, so it was gratifying to give back to the Nepali teams when they needed our help.

As the climbing is over, this will be the last blog from me. We have our science to finish and then pack up camp. It has been an adventure to say the least; one which will generate numerous landmark scientific papers, I hope. Above all though, we are safe and happy and have formed many friendships along the way, with other teams and the Nepalis and Sherpas. These memories will live long. Looking at the ?wrecks? that descended from the mountain, Kathmandu and a beer cannot arrive soon enough.

With enormous thanks to Mike Grocott for organizing such a fabulous trip, to his side-kicks, Denny , Dan, Kay and Mac and their crews and to all the lab teams along the way: ?What fun we have had!? And to all of you who have been kind enough to follow this adventure and support it along the way, ?A big, big thank you!?

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