Hey everyone 👋
Fiona here again. Just a quick note to let you know that Bianca and Paul are safely at Camp 2. They left around 1am and got to Camp 1 in good time ~ 5 hours. After a break there, they decided to continue up to Camp 2 and arrived there before midday. That way they can set up the tent once and settle in for a couple of nights at higher altitude.
There was some kind of accident in the icefall though and they heard from others that parts of the large serac have fallen and 2 people are injured, with one or more helicopters coming to rescue them. I don’t have any more information on them though so I hope they’re ok. This happened about 30 minutes after Bianca and Paul passed through the same area – a very real reminder of how dangerous this section is.
Bianca said the climb up to camp 2 was very hot towards the end – it might be hard to believe, but this Western Cwm section is often extremely hot as the sun radiates off the surrounding ice faces. Aside from that, I think she is feeling good. Paul was climbing fine but is a little worried about his eyes – it seems like sometimes the altitude causes him problems. Hopefully he’s ok and it improves.
Well, that’s really all I know for now!