The views this morning were incredible. The snow transformed the valley and it looked amazing, with the trees all covered with snow and the mountains even more dramatic and imposing than usual.
As we set off from Pangboche we admired the new views and Rich and I began talking about climbing Ama Dablam. I still can’t believe we’re considering it, but Andy mentioned it last night and we’ve been debating whether it would be feasible since then.
In keeping with the standard practice weather, the skies cleared yesterday as evening turned into night, and I had another go at capturing the starlit mountains. This time it worked rather better - the first photo shows Lhotse and Island Peak under the stars.
The skies were still clear this morning and the views were stunning, but the cloud gradually rolled in as we spent the morning practising the rope techniques we’re going to need later in the trip. We focussed on using the Jumar to ascend a fixed-rope, but also covered abseiling back down and roping up for a glacier-crossing. Most of the stuff was do-able, but Andy seems to expect previous experience of it - I’m quite glad we’re going to have another go tomorrow as I’ve never used a Jumar before. Tomorrow they’re going to be making sure we’ve all go the message, which is reassuring.
The sky finally cleared last night, and even under the light of the moon, the views were amazing. For the first time, we saw the iconic shape of Ama Dablam, and I spent ages trying (not entirely successfully) to get a decent long-exposure night-time photo.
This morning it was still clear, the beautiful blue sky raised everyone’s spirits. We set off with fantastic views of Ama Dablam then, during the morning, the cloud further up the valley cleared, and we finally saw the highest point on earth.