Day 12 - First Summit Day.

Dear reader, do I leave you in suspense for a bit as to the success of this attempt? Well why not...
Morning was a bit of a shambles with the much feared 40 minute wait materialising in really rather cold conditions at 5 am - no names to be mentioned to preserve reputations!

From then on it was a cold trudge up steep hills but in beautiful surroundings once the sun came up.

Unfortunately we lost a further two of our party just above the Independencia Hut, leaving the crack team of me and the 54 year old taff, Mike, and the unknown quantity of Tim, barrister from London who is 3 months older than me! From the hut, Stu and I headed along the windy traverse although how any path which gains such altitude can be called a traverse is beyond me. This leads to the base of the Canaletta where we had a regroup and very happily saw Tim and Mike making great progress.

Reunited, we took out our ice axes and headed up the Canaletta to the summit - the Canaletta is a steep, long, rock strewn slope. Just what you need when you are fighting for breath at 6,800mts. But, hoping that I have kept your suspense this long, we did all make it to the summit just below 7,000 mtrs.
For a few moments I am the highest human in the world (the Himalayan season has not started yet)! We take a number of photos and enjoy the view as well as the sense of achievement of having made it here.

Key stats: 05:40 departure from Camp Cholera, 12:40 arrival at summit - the rest of the group arrived shortly after 13:00. Whilst it would certainly have been possible to have knocked a few hours off this by going at my own speed, the camaraderie of being there together has left a far more enduring memory.
I have pushed myself on many of the days as this has been a proving ground for the adventures ahead as well as a chance to learn from mistakes made.
Trek down to Camp Cholera was difficult in a different way as the sun remained very fierce. This is the aspect of the trip that I have coped with worst (although the amount and strength of the sun has been exceptional this trip) and I will have to pick some more efficient headgear for the future.
I have kept my appetite all trip, at times forcing myself to eat when not that hungry to maintain the calorie intake for the mountain. Now that we have summited the need is no longer there. Also don't feel great after the day in the sun so in my sleeping bag early and just having some soup. Hopefully we will be back in Mendoza in a couple of days and great steak and local red wine await.
Food today:
Freeze dried granola and red berries; tasty and packed full of calories for the day ahead.
A couple of chocolate bars.
Instant soup - quite tasty but we have still not been able to work out what this one is though - and asking seems like cheating.