A change in the weather

We were meant to set off at 6.00 am this morning but it quickly became apparent that the weather had changed. Our mornings of blue sky's had given way to snow and very limited visibility ( very reminiscent of Scottish weather- actually that's not true - it would have been raining!).

For some reason I hadn't slept well and kept tossing and turning to try and get comfortable.

Having packed our gear, after breakfast it was time to unpack it and try and get warm again. It's surprising how quickly you get cold just sitting around.

Unpacking a soggy down sleeping bag and trying to inflate a frozen thermarest isn't much fun. It took me almost 3 hours to get warm and I still had cold toes. The tent unfortunately resembles a swamp at present as the frozen condensation melts. This has been made worse by the snow fall so that the inner and outer flysheet have touched allowing a direct path for the melting snow to enter the tent.

To make matters worse if the sun doesn't come out this afternoon we won't get anything dry. There begins the slippery slope of our bags becoming damper and damper and less effective as the down looses its insulation.

We plan to go up to Camp Three weather permitting so we are a day behind schedule. However with yesterday's news that's not a problem.

It's hoped that the snow might consolidate things. There's also a period of a few days of light winds that might help with the fixing of the ropes. After that stronger winds are set to return.

Apparently Russell Brice's team is still in BC but he has called off all climbing on the mountain.

Some Sherpa teams have been carrying things up to Camp Two today.