Day 7 - Low Camp Rest Day

Pretty slow morning with a late breakfast before a bit of rope training and then heading off for an acclimatisation walk at about 14:30.

Good start to the day!

We head up a nearby hill that takes us to the route that people used to use for climbing Vinson.

 It is quite a bit windier today so we are wearing a lot more protection (generally a buff or light face mask) to shield us from the wind as well as the continuingly powerful sun. The shoulder into the next valley is particularly windy so we don't stay long and after about 10 mins we head back down

Shoulder where the old route joins the new one

Heading back to camp - you can see the wind blowing along the crest of the ridge

Spindrift being blown off the ridge

When we get back we have a late lunch at about 5pm.Despite being a bit hungry, we don't eat that quickly and only finish at about half six and then have (a light) supper at about 8pm followed by chatting and press ups until bed at about 11pm having enjoyed some dramatic views as the cloud keeps coming in.

The bad weather seems to be arriving now as the wind picks up late in the evening which makes the short trips outside pretty chilly! There is quite a bit of cloud cover coming in but this should mean a more consistent night. Ie cold but not too bad all the way through as the clouds should trap in the heat that usually vanishes when the sun goes behind the mountain.
 

The forecast is for a few more days of high wind so it is very unlikely that we will be going anywhere for a few days. Whilst it is pretty annoying to be stuck in the same place for some time, we have plenty of contingency days so there is no time pressure as yet.