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it was pretty exciting to reach the glacier for our topcamp at 3860 metres (12664 feet) late in the afternoon. people from all over the world had put up their tents in order to get some sleep before their try for the top. we were all a bit anxious from the weatherreports though. sebastian did not feel all that good due to the height, but all i felt was a lack of hunger. my eyes were aching a bit, but nowhere near the serious snowblindness that people who does not protect themselves can get.

the glacier freezes at night, but even with the crampons and the axe it is tricky. turning around in the sleepingbag is tough at this height due to the lack of oxygene, then imagine what trekking upwards is.

due to the weather, it was storming and the sight towards the top was close to none, we made a stop in the refuge at approx 4400 metres (14436 feet). we stayed there a while in order to wait through the worst weather, but with no luck. almost everyone turned back and in order to make it back safe we decided to do the same. after all the mountain is still there and it had been a wonderful trip anyway. but of course it was not easy to decide to head back 400 heightmetres (1312 heightfeet) from the top.

outside the refuge the sun had come up, making the beautiful snowlandscape visible.

all of a sudden the topcamp turned up. it is impossible to catch the area though, it is huge.

back in the topcamp we were pretty glad that our tent had not blown away. we had run out of gas though (which we needed in order to melt snow to get water), making another try impossible. so we got some sleep, i posed with the vegan flag, and then we headed back.

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