Saw a massive avalanche of Pulmori peak yesterday. It is a neighboring peak, which although only about 7,200 meters high, it is a very difficult climb. A group from Oregon, I believe, had been trying to climb it and had just given up a few days ago because of the overlade slopes. Good call. If everything goes well we head up the mountain again tomorrow for our final rotation. We will spend one night at Camp One (20,000 feet), two nights at Camp Two (22,000 feet) and hopefully one night at Camp Three (23,600 feet) before coming back down to Base. Some have wondered why we go up and down like this. It is all part of the acclimatization process. As you spend time at higher altitudes (up to about 25,000) your oxygen transport system will become more efficient at collecting oxygen from the thin air and getting it through the body. Unfortunately, other body systems do not actually acclimatize. Once you get above Base Camp every day your body is deteriorating. You do not sleep much, food is poorly digested and your body just begins to break down. It is a fine balancing act to get the acclimatization without destroying your ability to recover in time for a summit attempt. Every year people spend too much time high and never get their strength back. People also fail to spend enough time and then don’t have the ability to get to Camp Three to begin a summit push. The other thing that makes this hard is that summit day is unknown. At this stage there is no way to know when the top of the mountain will be clear of the jet stream which can push winds well in excess of 100 MPH and the afternoon storms. We now get daily weather reports over the sat phone from a meteorologist in Washington State. We actually need his forecast for three to five days out. From the time he predicts low winds and benign weather it will take up to four days to get into position on the South Col at 26,000 feet. To begin the midnight push for the summit. With an unknown summit window it is entirely possible to still be in the middle of rotations on the mountain or maybe worse to have been waiting so long at Base Camp to have lost some of the acclimatization. It is no wonder that the success rate on this mountain is so low.