Day 11: Tuesday, 1/5/10: Cache to Camp 2

The overnight winds were quite loud and we once again did not sleep well. There was also not signs of the winds letting up during the day, but we had no choice and had to depart with our cache. We were both excited to start the ascent to camp 2 because we both wanted to stand at the foot of the glacier and see first hand what we were up against. We started out ascent around 10:00 and took our time up the loose rocky slopes. As we worked towards the col that would mark the halfway point of the day, the winds really picked up. We estimated gusts around 90-100 km/hr and were both getting knocked over. The col was by far the windiest spot of the ascent. We took a brief break and tried to find shelter from the wind without any luck. We resumed up the zig-zagging trails to Camp 2. During this stretch, a porter passed us like we were standing still. Eventually we met up again when he was resting. We reached the main sites at Camp 2 around 14:30, but decided to make our way closer to the foot of the glacier to set up camp. This added another 20 minutes or so to get to the far end of the camp.

The winds again were relentless at Camp 2 and it felt great to get out of the exposure behind the rock wall of the site. We cached our climbing gear, food, and fuel in our North Face Duffel under a bunch of rocks and just chilled looking up at the glacier. We could see tracks from some of the previous climbs. Depending on where you stood at Camp 2, it seemed like the steepness of the glacier varied. We felt comfortable with the exposure after seeing it up close. We departed Camp 2 around 15:30 feeling really, really good. Rather than approach the col, we B-lined it straight to Camp 1. We made it from Camp 2 to Camp 1 in about 40 minutes, running and sliding almost the entire way. Once we got settled in, we contacted base camp for a weather report. The winds were supposed to be high again tomorrow and then ease up for Friday and Saturday. We felt it made sense to spend another rest day at Camp 1 tomorrow and then make our bid for the summit the following day. If things didn't work out then, we would still have one last day for our summit.

Time, Location (Altitude), SPO2, HR
08:00, Camp 1 (16,300 ft), 85%, 87 bpm
15:00, Camp 2 (19,300 ft), 82%, 92 bpm

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