Base Camp

We have just missed the large Sherpa music festival here so are left to a peaceful and welcome rest day only disrupted in the afternoon by a massive hail storm. This confines the glacier travel training session to the mess tent. Not ideal but as it later turns out conditions are so good on the upper mountain that we barely need the rope anyway.

The route from here descends back into the main Hinku Valley for a brief respite before the steady ascent into the upper valley and onto the Mountain begins in earnest. After nearly a week in the jungle most team members are glad to break out into the more open heath covered slopes and relish the fleeting glimpses of Kusum Kanguri, Kyashar and Mera West. It feels like we are now trekking in the high Himalaya and from here on upwards the weather will remain utterly perfect. Super clear starry nights, cold starts and warm, sunny days.

On one of these late evenings, wandering about after dinner, down jacket on, hood up, MP3 player banging out Orbital, a huge serac peels off the West Face of Mera. The resulting icy dust cloud gathers massive momentum and travels into the valley floor. It is brightly illuminated by the full moon and provides a surreal and euphoric combination of sound, light and atmosphere.

At 4905m Mera Base Camp (Khare) is a fine sunny spot with a view of the summit and ample opportunities for resting, washing and supporting the highly seasonal local economy by buying Coke and Pringles! Most members have an acclimatisation day here pottering up onto the snout of the Mera Glacier, getting used to crampons and ice axes again and sampling the air at 5200m. After that we have a full rest day and, promisingly, all members sit in the sun eating lunch, relaxed and looking forward to getting to grips with the upper mountain.