AFTER a few days of sitting around Base Camp last week because of bad weather, the Singapore Women's Everest Team has their summit bid back on track.
The six-member team was split into two, with Summit- Team 1 - which had set off for Camp 2 for the second time last Friday - now there. The second team plans to head up on Monday.
Early last week, all six women were already at Camp 2 when they postponed the summit attempt. Strong winds and harsh temperatures as low as minus 50 deg C had prevented them from moving forward, and they returned to Base Camp.
Here are highlights of their adventure so far, posted by team leader Jane Lee, who blogs on citizen-journalism site Stomp.
May 6, Wednesday Within seconds, an avalanche created a massive snow cloud that enveloped most of Base Camp. Our campsite was more than a kilometre away from the icefall but, even then, we were blasted by a snowdrift. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
May 12, Tuesday We got up to Camp 2 in two really fast days of climbing, then we heard the weather report that our summit bid for the 11th would be sucky. There would be high winds and snow.
So we all headed back down the mountain AGAIN. Now, the entire Base Camp is literally sitting around.
May 15, Friday I'm headed up the mountain again, in the morning. We're leaving at 3.30am through the Khumbu icefall. The weather report for now is looking really good, and all the teams here are counting on this window!
For Jane Lee's complete posts on the team's ongoing adventure, go to www.stomp.com.sg/starblog/ -- MY PAPER