The Climb - Day 15
May 25 Summary

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After doing a teleconference with classes at Laidlaw School in Winnipeg and some very exhuberant kids from grades 2, 3 and 4, the team packed everything up and started what was supposed to be about an 8 hour climb up to their next destination: Camp III at 4,468 metres (14,657 feet). Tired and beginning to feel the effects of altitude now, they pushed onwards and upwards over the steep headwall section, but did not make it as far as the planned Camp III destination. Rope teams today were: James, Catherine, Urszula, Samantha & Shawn - Adam, Stephanie & Travis - and Len, Josh & Danylo.

Unfortunately, James may not have eaten enough or had enough to drink during the day and ended up getting hypoglycemic with the effort he exerted moving up the headwall. There were also some problems with the skins on the bottom of the skiis in the snow conditions today not gripping the snow adequately and some hiking without the skiis was required.

While the nights are downright chilly, the opposite is true during the day when temperatures have climbed to 20+ degrees Celsius. And with the sun reflecting off the snow in all directions, some of the team have actually received sunburns, reinforcing the need to be careful to keep the Zinc sunscreen applied to their faces.

They are taking the satellite transceiver with them and will do another test with the unit to see if the higher elevation and more direct sight-lines to the satellite will allow them to maintain a connection and, at the very least, try and send out some pictures to post up on the website. Stay tuned.