At C3 and feeling fine. Talking funny and coughing, but heart lung machine working on all cylinders. Came at a steady pace with two other teams; Jagged Globe from UK and Henry Todd - US, I think. The Koreans are here too! The Lhotse wall was just as steep and intimidating as before. I counted 20 climbers in all but not a word spoken in hours. It really does take all your effort and concentration. When I arrived the camp was in a mess. Some tents are full of ice and water, some completely destroyed in the winds. Not a comfortable night I think.
This is our last night before our summit attempt and I'm a bit nervous but not too bad. If I can arrive at the South Col in no worse shape than now I'll have a fighting chance if the weather behaves.
It's very cold here, not sure what the temperature is but the snow inside the tent shows no sign of melting! I brought three ready cooked meals with me and had the first at ABC last night. Tonight it's the second meal - chilli , I can't begin to tell you how sick I am of Nepalese food!!! The last I'll use tomorrow just before we depart for the Summit.
Team relations are at an all time low. Serge and Luda are not talking. The rest of us are just trying to avoid getting involved but it makes for a bad atmosphere. Still, soon be over! Still not sure about the oxygen. I will definitely use it but it doesn't give you quite the kick you might expect. I'm used to using the Canular now but have to use the mask if its windy. Will try and do an update from South Col tomorrow but no guarantees.

As a result of todays weather forecast it seems everything has changed again. It would appear that Klaus, Serge and Luda are on their way with Sherpa support to ABC. Apparently the intent is to move up to C3 first thing tomorrow! The jet is still blowing but things change fast up here. I'm still not great but have been out and tested my breathing with reasonable results. I think I will get a Sherpa to carry all my load to C3 tomorrow and I'll carry an oxygen cylinder just in case. Cough now seems under control, but runny nose not helpful with canular. I'm well hydrated now and peeing for Britain - still this is mountaineering for you!

Yesterday was the worse day of this expedition if not my climbing career. The trip to ABC which I have completed 4 times now is very hard and gruelling but yesterday it nearly finished me! Although I did get there in 7 hours, it felt like 77. On two occasions I fell over into the snow and had to wait several minutes before I could get up!!
So why and what can I do?
On reflection I made several basic mistakes and a few other issues conspired to make it worse;
I knew I had cold coming on and a fierce cough but ignored the symptoms despite running a mild fever in the night. My pack was ridiculously and needlessly heavy. I failed my own basic rule and didn't drink sufficiently through the night. My camelbak froze and so I had no liquid until past C1 when the heat was exhausting!!
I hit the wall about an hour into the Western Cwm and it took a further hour before I started to think straight again.
On arrival things picked up - Pember, one of Sherpa, filled me with no less than two cups of warm orange, a flask of sweet tea, a pan of hot soup and a litre of squash. Mid afternoon I had two more bowls of RaRa soup, another litre of squash and then finally after dinner I actually had a small pee!!
Whilst in my tent I also went onto oxygen and in fact slept most of the night on 1lt per minute.
Today I'm back in the world of the living and as luck has it, summit day has been moved back either 1 or 2 days, so I'm hoping to recover. Already my severe bark has eased. I'm not sure if the cold feeling I have in my nose is from the oxygen which was delivered via a canular. My voice is 2 octaves lower than normal but I can live with that. Thankfully, no signs of AMS and breathing is normal when I'm not active.
There is no more room for errors. If I exercise up here without oxygen but then sleep on it in the night I can simulate BC conditions for the night but maintain the old adage climb high sleep low. I have also asked my summit Sherpa, Lakpa to bring me up an additional bottle of oxygen just in case I need it to get to C3 where I have 1 bottle stashed already. My remaining 3 are on the South Col.
From a climbing point of few teams have either already made a decision to wait until the end of May or are looking at 21-23rd window. Even the Japanese, Iranian and Korean teams have had to come back to ABC although our Sherpa have managed to fix ropes up to the balcony above the South Col.

Woke throughout the night with a severe cough! Not sure if it's the renowned Khumbu cough or some viral or bacterial thing picked up from Luda or Serge! Anyway timing is not great. Good news is that Klaus is on hand to dish out some pills to bring it under control. It's not uncommon for climbers to break ribs with the Khumbu cough! Came back pretty steady in just under 3 hours from Lobuche, my chest was a bit tight but no real breathing problems.
Final countdown has begun and I have decided to leave for C2 tomorrow, Tuesday, so that I can rest a day after the rigours of the 6 hour trek up through the ice fall past C1 to ABC. It will also give me time to have a final sort out of my gear. I have just read the 'Death Zone' and picked up a few more tips that are worth picking up on like a harness in your back pack to keep the oxygen bottle upright and preventing the tube kinking which I can easily fashion from some climbing slings!
So after all this time it looks like we have a game on. Walking up here today from Lobuche the task looks impossible, but by the time I'd broken it down into stages again and compared my performance to C3 I was feeling more positive! I'll go onto oxygen at C3 and endeavour to keep myself in the best possible shape for the final push from C4. One advantage of using the summit oxygen is that it gives me much more available oxygen in relative terms and with it more flexibility in terms of when I use it and at what flow rates. Just hope the darn thing works!!
I will be taking my PDA with me on the summit push but I 'm not sure what access to a phone I'll have or even whether it will work at C4 so updates may be intermittent!
If you do believe in the power of prayer, rosary beads or any other positive influence the next 6 days would be a great time to practice it please!!!

Keith.

Having made the decision to miss my flight home I feel much better. The trip down to Labuche was enjoyable and I felt I was flying, passing trekkers like a race horse in a donkey derby. The trip started quite bizarrely when we came across a young women doctor from the medical centre dressed as a gypsy playing classic and traditional folk music to a crowd of climbers and Sherpas. What a surreal place this can be!!
In addition we have made a final decision to start our summit attempt on the 18th with a summit bid coming between the 20th and 22nd. The weather forecasts seem to be converging and looking better for this period. Unfortunately the majority of the teams also see it the same way!
A couple of teams have actually already set off for the summit for one reason or another, such as immovable return dates. These include a team of three Japanese, a Korean team and the Iranian womens team. We shall all watch with interest their progress and pray that the most optimistic forecast is the accurate one. My personal observation is that none of these teams are particularly strong and that they are taking undue risks.
Today a few of us took a walk to a hidden research centre tucked away at 5000m in a hidden valley. The glass Pyramid and associated lodge is a joint venture between the Nepal and Italian governments. This high tech facility driven entirely by sun and wind power and set against a backdrop of Pumori was quite a sight and in complete contrast to everything I've seen since I left the UK.

After much thought and debate with other members from different teams I have decided to tough this out! Tomorrow I'll set off for Labouche not too far down the track, but enough to get some exercise and to sleep in a bed!
General consensus is weather improving slowly but current outlook not the stable window we are looking for. Still, some teams planning to begin climb in the next few days in anticipation of improving conditions and with a view of calling it off if necessary! Problem with this is the Ice Fall, which everyone agrees is becoming increasingly unstable and not to be climbed unless necessary. So I will go down get some exercise and some change of scenery in Labouche! and hope that things will be more stable for a possible summit attempt on the 21st. This will mean setting off for C2 on Wednesday the 18th, it also means I'll miss my return flight home, but that's how it goes sometimes!
Until then I will try and get as much exercise as possible and stay away from infected people. Serge has full blown flu and is incapacitated, Luda has a bad chest but I think its Khumbu cough!
There will be no more updates on this site until Monday when hopefully the outlook will be more positive!