Today was a bit of a media day for me! After breakfast, I spoke with some Australian guys who were filming for IMAX and they showed me their specialised cameras for the 3D filming. I then did an interview with them, so hopefully I don’t look bad when my face is on a 30m screen!!
I then chatted with a German crew, filming for ZDF and Arte, and we walked into the icefall a bit to film. Even though it was meant to be a rest day for me, I still had to climb up a vertical ice tower a couple of times. It was still nice because I wasn’t alone, and I could climb a little with Pemba (my Sherpa guide) so while I was waiting on the top of a skinny ice tower, we could chat. It was nice to be able to film some shots with Pemba too!
It was really hot for a few hours today, so I even pulled out my pink banana shorts! (thanks Jess and Jemma!) The heat didn’t last long though, so I chucked on some more clothes and filmed another interview with the German crew.
They were super kind and efficient!
As a break, I played cards with Bartek, Sheroze, Petrit, and Shehla in the coffee tent. I then had to do some school!
Most of our friends are leaving tonight, so we wished them luck. They have to leave at 1am, and their breakfast is at 12:30am, so they have to go to bed early!
If you don’t know – the Khumbu icefall is very dangerous, with huge seracs (ice blocks) the size of buildings that topple every day which is why it is so dangerous. To avoid the danger as much as possible, we climb in the night when the ice is most frozen and less likely to move. Ideally we would get to camp 1 before 9 or 10am.
Something important to note: Yes, this season there have been some dramas with the icefall not opening due to a serac that was predicted to collapse soon. However, there are seracs similar to this every year, and it does not make this season more dangerous than previous ones. The SPCC have found a route around the serac.
CLIMBING UPDATE: We are leaving tomorrow night (Tuesday at 1am) for our rotation! I will spend 3 days on the mountain, doing 1 night in camp 1 (6100m) and 2 nights in camp 2 (6500m). I will also climb up and touch about 7000m on my “rest day” in camp 2.
I have already climbed two 6000m peaks, and SLEPT on the summit of one of them! So after this short rotation I will be very acclimatised! A lot more than last year!
