Teams on both sides and the West Ridge continue to make steady progress these days. Thankfully, there have been no further accidents and the weather appears to be behaving itself. The dispatches report business as usual with the normal comments about altitude, acclimatization issues and, of course, toilet habits! It is amazing that we humans seem to become fascinated with the lowest common denominator. But then again, if you have ever woken up to the sound of howling winds in sub-zero temperatures in a thin nylon tent at 23,000' and really, really, really had to go - well ...

Lets see where the teams are. First over on the north. Most teams have made it the North Col and some are spending the night at Camp 1. Bob Killip on the Himex team notes "...We head up to the Nth Col again but this time sleeping for a couple of nights and then climbing up to 7500 metres to stay or at least tag Camp 2." As previously reported, the Himex team has fixed the ropes to 8300m.

Scott Woolums has posted a nice video of their trip through Tibet to the basecamp on the north. It shows the poverty and undeveloped aspects of this region as well as the pristine nature of the Steps of Tibet. It is hard to understand that the area you see in the video is around 16,000'. There is also a nice view of Cho Oyu. This is the route every team takes coming from Nepal to climb Everest (north), Cho Oyu or Shishapangma. It is well worth a look.

On the south, teams are all over the Hill with the route now fixed to Camp 3, 23500'. Jagged Globe, Adventure Consultants and IMG (including Paul and Fi) are all back in BC after a successful trip to C2 and a short sortie up the Lhotse Face. Mountain Link is at C2 for the first time. AAI continues to lead all the teams by being back at C2 once again with the goal of spending the night at C3 for the first time.

This week I will detail the Lhotse Face and what it really takes to get to Camp3. It represents some of the most difficult climbing the teams will face on the south side. http://www.alanarnette.com