This is a new audio update from Mike Brennan climbing Mount Everest.

  17 May - Pangboche – Audio update

Hi this is me trying an audio blog for the first time for ages.  We are safely down at Pangboche. It took me about 7 hours with Nadir in kind attention.  Ray and Greg were quicker as usual and in good form and we all feel pretty pleased to be in this lovely lodge where we are about to tuck into our first chicken and chips meal which the other guys who were here a few weeks ago have been going on about. It is a nice cloudy day today so it wasn’t so hot as it might otherwise have been. I am still nursing my sun burnt lips as are some of the others.  I am doing the audio blog because I am tired and lazy and don’t feel able to tap out much else.  It was quite a long walk really today.  We are going to have a couple of days here and then go back, which is going to be interesting to see how the old legs feel and see if all this eating does some good.   At this moment we are kind of beginning to think that if we get back to Base Camp on the evening of the 20th May, we would have a day’s rest, plan and then start going up the mountain for the last time on the 22nd.   This always assumes that the weather predictions don’t change.  So that is pretty exciting really.  It means that as was always expected it would be a late date for an ascent.  There are two groups in front of us from our party who we hope will also have summitted by the time we are going up, but much can change with the weather and health and stuff but if we were to set off on the 22nd, we would probably have a rest day at camp 2 on the 23rd, maybe go to camp 3 on the 24th, South Col on the 25th and then, for me anyway, try and summit on the 26th night or something like that.  It will become more clear nearer the time.  So it is all getting nearer and we do badly need the weather predictions to stay stable because we haven’t a lot of time to play with really.    So there you go.  I’ll do a proper written update tomorrow and responses to messages and stuff, because we have got lots of time tomorrow.  Not going to do much I don’t think.  Eat and sleep and cards or something. OK I hope you are not getting too bored with this prolonged build up but it is nearly getting there now.  OK bye everybody.