The top

To get to the top (some 5,400 metres above sea level) we had to get up at 3.30 am to leave at 4, walk up 900 m immediately to a teahouse and then across the pass making sure we crossed before 10 otherwise the wind would get up and rip through us. Having now had some slee the climb went fine and I was practically skipping to the pass having been told that it was 'pretty much flat thereafter' ... in actual fact you have to climb up and down across icy slopes, getting higher then lower until you eventually get to the top where it is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cold i seriously thought I was going to lose a couple of fingers and toes to frostbite. Testiment to the cold is Paksang's down outfit and as you will see he is still smiling notwithstanding the fact that it is about 5 in the morning and he's been up for 3 hours already - a true sherpa. By nowI am sporting my rather elegant gaters in readiness for the snow fields we had to go through on the other side of the pass.

In case you are wondering how Mark managed to get to these dizzy heights whilst suffering from AMS ... the answer is Diamox - a great drug that propelled him up the mountain so fast he had to sit on his own in the freezing cold for half an hour before anyone else could get there.