Wake up call was at 3am. I barely had a breakfast, didn’t have the apetite and we left by 4am. Mike decided to keep a slower pace that usual for the whole team. The weather was great until we reached the Bergschrund, the base of the Lhotse face. As we got higher and higher, the weather started to get worse. When we crossed lower Camp 3, the wind speeds were over 100km/hr and for the first time during the trip, I had to use my goggles. As we got close to our camp, sadly, I lost one of left Mittens (Gloves without the fingers that are super warm). I was wearing the Mitts on and off during the climb, and they were tied tightly around my wrists. It started to loosen towards the end of the climb but since we were close to camp, I figured no point stopping and fixing it. Big mistake!. There was a gust of wind, it slipped out of wrists and I watched it fall right off the face. Just a matter of seconds and it was gone.

Day 51 – Visibility was low at Camp 3 due to high winds

We reached camp in terrible weather. I am just glad we were close to Camp when the weather got worse. Mike wasn’t happy when he found out I lost my Mitts as I would not be able to attempt summit without the Mitts. Usually, we have extra pair of gloves but Mitts are usually back-ups themselves so we carry only one .But, if there was bad weather, Mitts would become a necessity. Fortunately, our Sirdar (lead Sherpa) had an extra pair of Mitts which he was happy to lend. Phew!

Day 51 – View from Camp 3 when the weather was still bad

The winds were strong at Camp that the Sherpas were unable to put up the additional tents we needed at Camp 3. We ended up calling Alpine Ascents for help and using thier tents as they were to come up to Camp 3 only the following day. Despite all the difficulties we faced that day, the best part of the day was to breathe some pure Oxygen for the first time. We were going to be on Oxygen from here on. The Oxygen flow from the tank is controlled using a regulator with flow rates starting from 0.5 to 8.0. At a flow rate of 3.0, and a full tank of 3000psi, we would have Oxygen for 10 hours. I had to make sure I remembered that wherever I was, so I don’t run out of Oxygen. At Camp 3, we were going to be resting and sleeping at a flow rate of 1.0. Even at 1.0, I was starting to feel like Superman.

Day 51 – Sleeping in the tent with Oxygen

That evening, I managed to do something very stupid. With terrible outside conditions and me being extremely tired, I just dropped the bag inside the tent as soon as I entered the tent. The rule of thumb is to keep all sharps outside the tent in the vestibule, especially, Crampons and Ice axe. Unfortunately, the Ice Axe was on the outside of my bag. After a bit of rest, when I tried to do the responsible thing and move the bag outside, the Axe accidentally punctured Mayk’s super comfortable sleeping pad and boom, the air gushes out and along with it came thousands of small cotton pieces filling up the whole tent. We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to clean up the tent and fix the pad. Fixing the pad was hopeless; we tried using the repair kit, duct tapes..nothing worked. Eventually, I gave up my pad which was sadly not half as comfortable as his. I used Eben’s, which was half the size of mine. I was a little cold, but I had to pay the price for my stupidity.

Day 51 – Our shitter at Camp 3, right at the edge of the face