May 8. A look back on the climb through the Icefall and to camp 2

My day started with a 1am wakeup call and I was in the dining tent by 1:30 fully decked out in my climbing harness, 8000m boots, helmet and headlamp along with my various layers of clothing. I was anxious and excited about the climb ahead. For breakfast I chose Dahl Bhat (a traditional Nepalese dish of rice and lentils) which is supposed to provide 24 hour power.
We had a beautiful night to start with an almost full moon and clear skies. Iwas accompanied by Jit, a climbing Sherpa from Imagine Nepal. Furtemba was also there to wish us luck. I set out with another climber, Martin, a Hungarian who lives and works in London and his Sherpa, Padwa.
Our first stop was at the alter to offer our prayer requests for a safe journey. We then started our trek to the point in the icefall where we have to put on our crampons for the large chunks of ice we will encounter. The was a friendly dog hanging out here hoping for some last minute snacks. As I leaned down to clamp down my crampon, I received an unexpected kiss on the face from my furry friend.
There were many obstacles as we meandered through the icefall listening for the sound of cracking ice. We encountered many short but scary ladder crossings over crevasses. Usually, there was one rope to clip into with my safety caribiner and I would then take hold of the rope and pull it taught to give me some stability as I carefully made each step with my giant boots with crampons.
By 10:45am I made it to Camp 1 and enjoyed a drink and something to eat before heading to the tent to catch a nap. Unfortunately, as the sun was beating down on the tent it created a sauna like environment. I used a wet wipe to try to keep cool and stripped down to just underwear. Even then I had to fill it with snow to beat the heat, I didn’t have much appetite that night and just ate ramen noodles and some sugary snacks that I carried. Being so tired I didn’t notice but when I woke up in the middle of the night I found my sleeping bag was covered by a thin layer of snow that had blown in through the vent in the top of the tent.
I awoke at 7am to start my climb to Camp 2 with Jit. About an hour into the climb I started to feel dizzy and had blurry vision because I was using my snow goggles. The sun started blazing and it became smoking hot. I spoke to Furtemba at EBC on the radio and he recommended I change to my glacier glasses. To my chagrin, I realized my glasses were stuffed into my sleeping bag which required removing everything from my pack and unpacking my sleeping bag. Once I made the switch the dizziness and blurry vision went away and Jit and I carried on. By 2pm we made our last steps into Camp 2. We both had terrible coughs and felt horrible. I barely had the energy to remove my crampons and roll into the tent.
That night, I ate a few bites of fried rice, soup and chicken before heading back to the tent. I expected the next day I would be resting at Camp 2 but was awakened and told to pack up. A helicopter would be arriving shortly to take Martin, Jit, Padwa and myself back to EBC. Having no energy and a raging chest cold, the helicopter was welcomed. The only problem was we waited over an hour in the cold before it arrived. Each minute seemed like an hour. Once onboard it was an incredible view of the route our legs had taken us through. The icefall was spectacular and seeing it from above was very special. I arrived at EBC in time for breakfast and to be greeted and taken care of by my fellow climbers. Now is the time for rest and recovery.