Recently by Richard Pattison

It was a much longer and harder day than we expected, we started from camp two so as to minimise the time we'd spend under the dangerous ice cliffs above camp three, however, most other groups are using camp three making a shorter summit day. I managed about 30 mins sleep due to the uncomfortable floor and nerves. We awoke at 1am and melted enough snow for a cup of tea and were ready to leave at 2am.

Just after 10am Nepali time, we reached the summit of Ama Dablam 6,814m. It took about 8 hours and was very cold around dawn with a cutting wind. We've been blessed with fantastic views all around, Everest is clearer visible behind me in the photo. I'll post more once I down safely.

This is our summit eve, the despatch is coming from camp two at 6,000m on Ama Dablam. Today we climbed from camp one and we're now in a position to make an attempt on the summit tomorrow, assuming the weather doesn't change significantly overnight, there is currently a light breeze and the temperature just below freezing, although it will drop further when the sun sets.

Having acclimatised over the last 3 weeks, we're now on our summit attempt.

We said our good byes to the base camp team and received their well wishes, then passed by the Buddhist stupa and prayer flags paying our regards and asking for safe passage on the mountain once more, then that was it, we set-off for camp one...

The weather forecast is favourable, so we're off on our summit push, leaving for camp one tomorrow, camp two the day after and then leave for the summit that night. Wish us luck...

We've been back down in base camp for two days now which has allowed for some interesting passtimes like secretly eating a whole block of Toblerone in my tent so none of the other expedition members knew, and also doing my washing!

Today has been the most exciting day of the expedition so far, with exhilarating rock climbing between camp one and camp, the photos are quite spectacular.

We've made it to camp one (5,600m) on Ama Dablam and the climbing really feels like its begun. Camp one is situated on the shoulder of the south west ridge in an airy position with great views all around. There is a 1,000m drop on one side of the ridge down to base camp, and a 400m drop on the other side!

We have now started our second foray on to the mountain, with the intention of establishing two camps on the mountain and stocking them with food and gear, with the hope that the next 3 days will provide enough acclimatisation for our bodies to be ready for a summit attempt. Maybe another foray will be required to acclimatise prior to the summit bid, we have enough time.

After 3 nights at base camp we were all eager to get on with the business of climbing, after all, that's why we're here. We've had our leisurely trek to base camp, we've rested and acclimatised, we've had our Buddhist Puja ceremony to ask for safe passage on the mountain, it's time, let's climb.

So, our first day has been a simple beginning, but the climbing phase of the expedition is now underway. Today we carried our first load up to advanced base camp at 5, 350m. We'll make a number of forays on to the mountain for two key reasons: