Hi all – it’s a nervous time for me here at basecamp, but even moreso for Bianca as she gets ready to leave for her summit attempt.
She’s been continuing to hydrate, and then checking and double checking she has everything she needs. And then getting geared up and ready to go.
There are lots of people up there, so we decided on a super early departure time – so as not to get stuck behind queues of people. That also is better for the weather forecast too, as winds are supposed to pick up tomorrow morning.
Actually, we’re not overly confident in the weather. We are looking at quite a lot of different forecasts and they don’t all agree, and even the best ones say this period is particularly hard to predict. The winds might be too high, which could make it too cold and dangerous to continue. And of course, we’re encouraging her to turn back if that happens (there have been a few people come down with frostbite and it’s not worth that).
But on the other hand, some weather forecasts are more optimistic and the fact that there are a lot of people making their attempt tonight says that they all think the weather is ok.
Even with good weather, she’s got a massive night ahead of her. Lots of you are asking how long we’d expect her to take. It’s hard to say but maybe between 10 and 12 hours from Camp 4 to the summit. And then another 5 hours down. But that all depends on the weather and the snow conditions too.
So keep everything crossed for her. She’s worked so hard for this!
(And if the tracker stops updating, it could just be too cold.)
Paul and I will be on the radio waiting to hear updates – and I’ll post here when I hear anything.
— Fiona
Bianca hydrating in her tent at Camp 4. About 2 hours before leaving.
The view from Bianca’s tent at camp 4. The route goes pretty much straight up the mountain that you can see here – except that’s not the summit! You can’t actually see the summit until you pass the ‘South Summit’. Even when you’ve climbed all the way to camp 4, it’s still such a long way to the top.