It was a more promising start to the day with some clear patches of blue sky and views of Makalu summit but cloud still hung around the surrounding peaks and over the ridge leading to Camp 1. We therefore decided to monitor the weather for a few hours before committing a team to moving up the mountain.
Members of the team busied themselves around Base Camp, either preparing their personal kit or attending to group jobs ready for higher on the mountain. We are all exceptionally keen for the weather to change - allowing us to make further progress on the ridge.

Mid-morning we received a visit from the wife (Nancy) of an American climber who is on the normal route on Makalu. She has travelled in to spend a few days at his Base Camp and is currently camped just below us as part of her acclimatisation. It was good to catch up on news and to spend a short period discussing our respective experiences.

After lunch the 4 climbers, Dave Tait, Chris, Uisdean and Sam set off for Camp 1. Typically, the weather began to deteriorate within an hour of their departure with several heavy sleet/snow showers blowing through. However, the 6pm radio check confirmed that they had all arrived safely at Camp 1 albeit experiencing some bad weather en route.

Meanwhile, at Base Camp Ian Venables and Ian Singleton spoke to radio Lincolnshire and radio Cumbria respectively. These radio interviews were arranged by the RAF Careers personnel.

As we complete our evening meal the snow has ceased to fall and we hope for an improvement in tomorrows weather. An improvement will see the team on the mountain move up to our intermediate camp at 6200m and an additional 4 members move up to Camp 1. The remainder of the team will aim to complete the load carries to Camp 1 in readiness for this food and equipment being needed higher up.

Colin Scott
Expedition Leader

Equipment Feature:

The PAC chamber creates an artificially higher pressure so providing more oxygen to a casualty at altitude. This chamber is a life saving first aid measure for conditions such as Acute Mountain Sickness, High Altitude Pulmonary Oedema or High Altitude Cerebral Oedema. The pressure is increased in the chamber by means of a foot pump which is labour intensive and requires a large amount of effort from fit team members when at high altitude. At our current base camp altitude using the chamber can achieve the equivalent of descending to 3000m (from 4800m at BC) which is potentially of great benefit should we be unable to take a casualty down the mountain because of bad weather.