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It was 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 their tents up in order to get some sort of sleep prior to their attempt for the top. We were all a bit anxious from the weatherreports though and Sebastian did not feel all that good due to the height. All I felt was a lack of hunger and my eyes were aching a bit, but nowhere near the serious snowblindness that people not wearing protection 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, and then just imagine what trekking upwards is.

Due to the foul 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 the worst weather out, but with no luck. Everyone turned back, and in order to make it back safely we opted for the same. The mountain will remain and it had been a wonderful trip anyway, but of course it was not easy to decide to head back 400 heightmetres 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 width with a camera though.

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 attempt impossible. We got some sleep and then we headed back. Next up was Austria.

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