Hi Folks ( david here) – there’s a frustrating lack of reports from the north – mostly because most teams arent was well equipped on the communications side as those on the south. I know that a couple from Adventure Consultants just summitted – so the winds cant be that bad. As I write this ( 1115am)  it’s about 9am Nepal time ( 2.5  hour differemce)  Grant would have been climbing for 8-9 hours now. If he is on a 1000litre Poisk bottle at 2L per minute, he should be switching over to his second bottle by now to crank up the final few hundred metres to the top, before cranking down to 2L p.m again for the descent. He’s with a strong sherpa, so I dont have worries in that department.

This is NOT unusual to take this long as the north side is peppered with more technicalities that slow people down in chokepoints like the 1st and 2nd Steps. G was slated to leave at a staggered time of 1130pm. SOme other issues – his Thuraya ohone’s battery may have packed up. Or even on a full charge, some phone, in my personal experience, have simply refused to switch on. Youhave to remember that most tech stuff are being pushed way beyong their operational limits at times. My 2002 Apple Laptop had  manufacturer statement ” Do not operate above 4200m” – I was cranking it at 5600m!