It is amazing how our bodies can adapt to most things given enough time. We made our second foray into the Ice Fall today and general consensus was we had went higher than any other westerners so far this year. Kami and I started early to avoid the heat and moved smoothly. By 10:30 we were very near where the glacier begins to lay back for the last flat but crevasse section to Camp One. The wind began to pick up. At one point while I had my backpack off to retrieve warmer storm gear the wind caught it. It may have weighted 30 lbs. but the wind held it out straight. The little crystals felt like fire hitting any expose surface. As quickly as it came, it was gone. Other than some steep sections and more ladders crossing this is really the most technical climbing on Everest. Some sections were sixty or seventy degree ice. All of the sections that have any objective dangers now have fixed rope. For the steeper sections we use an ascender, sometimes called a jumar, that hooks over the rope and only allows it to move one direction. As you dig the points of your crampons into the ice you use the jumar to provide stability and as a backup. It is quite amazing how well the spikes will hold your weight although much front pointing can leave your calves screaming. To descend we typically arm repel these sections. That involves putting a backup carabiner on the line as insurance the wrapping the rope around your arm. You loop it through the other hand, which is your brake. You can descend very quickly using this technique once you get use to it. It is also very safe. The bottom of the icefall is a series of undulating wind-sculpted ridges. As you climb to the top of each succeeding one camp can be seen a little closer. It is probably the most tiring and emotionally exhausting part of the climb. It pays to keep your eyes open in this area because there was advance camps here during the 1953 British Expedition, which first conquered Everest, and several subsequent ones. Old artifacts are still popping up through the snow in these areas and some can be quite valuable. There is lots of other less valuable but just as interesting artifacts to be found. The Khumbu is littered with helicopters. Mix demanding people with money, extreme altitude and pilots and operators wanting to make quick buck and you have a prescription for disaster. Walking into camp are the remains of a Russian MI-17 that crashed two years ago killing several. This altitude is at the absolute limit for most of this old Soviet era equipment but it doesn’t stop people from trying. There will be more helicopter litter in the Khumbu.