End in sight

A cold start to the day. It snowed overnight. It was well below zero.

My sleeping bag was "guaranteed" to -25c, so I was OK in there. The problem was getting dressed, or getting up in the night to pee.

As regards the latter, I know some used bottles in their tent. I was happier to avoid the risk of urine being spilled everywhere, and step outside. The stars were totally magnificent at 14,000 ft with no artificial light for miles around. Took my breath away. Or was that when...

Getting dressed involved getting all the clothes into the sleeping bag to defrost them (literally) before putting them on while still inside the bag as much as was humanly possible.

Apart from camp 1 (at a balmy 9,300 ft) our routine involved eating dinner in the mess tent about 7.30 - 8pm. After that Jonas (the chief guide) would check on our health. We'd be in our tents & sleeping bags by 8.30. It was too cold to sit about, even with all the cold weather kit on.

When you're up at 6am and hiking all day at altitude, bed at 8.30pm is just fine. Especially since it's warm.

The Blip is a view of the mountain at the Arctic desert level, between camps 3 and 4. Almost no vegetation.