Alex Txikon and his partners are feeling great at Camp 3 and determined to go all the way to the top.
“We’ve covered in one day what took us three days on the previous rotation, we’re feeling f***ing good and happy with the work done,” an enthusiastic Txikon told his team in Base Camp.
They will leave early in the morning, pitch Camp 4 at about 7,000m by noon, grab a few hours’ shuteye, then head to the summit on Friday night.
“Conditions are okay, and the weather is better than forecast,” said Txikon. “Today we were supposed to get 20cm of snow, but there was nothing. Moreover, the sky is pretty clear. We will go on as long as the wind doesn’t change.”
Only problem: The summit is still far away, and 1,600 vertical metres above. They must cover a long distance, steep terrain, and the final knife-edge ridge to get to the top. And they must be there early on Saturday because the weather is expected to change for the worse later that day and throughout Sunday. On Monday, a snowstorm will settle in for days.
