Going down is soooo much easier. The only exceptions are the ladders. They are harder to go down than up. Mainly because you must lean in the direction of travel pulling the ropes tight to help with balance. That is just unnatural. On some of the more down slopping ladders I back down them. That seems to work much better. I have seen people crawling across them. That looks worse to me. We waited until 8:00 to avoid the Sherpas coming up with loads. In most places this is definitely a one way street. Unfortunately we meet climbers in the lower Icefall who are out for their first climb. We continually find ourselves waiting at ladder crossings and technical sections for these people to move through. They seem so slow and look so shot it is hard to imagine that was me a few days ago. Some are courteous and allow us by while others are so focused they can only think of the next step. I don’t feel mad at them. The only ones who make me angry are the rare, usually, young guy who is acclimatized and in a hurry. They act like everyone is in their way and they swing on the ropes, jostling people while clipping past and generally being obnoxious. It is invariably a westerner. I have only seen one younger Sherpa do anything like that and I later saw some of the other Sherpas giving him what appeared to be a good butt chewing. I understand there have occasionally been words exchanged and even shoving incidents. Who has the energy at 19,000 feet? In fact I understand one climber who did not to play by the rules was forced of the mountain last year. All these expeditions try to work together and there is just no room for that kind of behavior. But those are such rare events as to be unworthy of comment. I have found people to be caring and helpful and courteous. This is one of the greatest groups of people I can imagine. We have estimated there are 200 people trying to climb the mountain from the South side this year. Probably ¼ maybe even a 1/3 have been here before. They come from all over the world. Some are highly experienced, for some this is the next natural step in their “career”, and unfortunately some appear clueless. Of course they may be more dialed in than I am. I do know that I have no doubt that barring sickness, with decent weather, and a little good fortune there isn’t anyone in our team that can’t make it to the top. I am proud to be part of this team.