It really has been exciting moving through the ice fall and gaining camp 1 and with a couple of hairy instances happening along the way. I’m enclosing a brief note on just a few of the days on route.

"From here on in to summit is like planning a war and we have to win a number of battles to get our target of camp four so make our final assault on the summit. We will have to deal with the fear of altitude and how it will affect both our minds and bodies, we’ll have to watch each others behaviour and how we’ll deal with the pressure that Everest will put on each of us in the next few weeks. We cant afford to make a simple mistake as Everest has no Mercy on those that do".

Live interview on the Pat Kenny show this morning (15^th April) direct from Base camp on how the team is holding up under the pressures of death, snow storms and the dangers talked about below.

Reporting from the boarders of Nepal and Tibet.

PS If your interest in following news brief of Irish team we have just got communication open on e-mail. We will keep you briefed of our progress direct from the mountain on breaking news. We are also hoping to have the ability to wire pictures to the press from our computer system as we climb the mountain if you require pictures please contact us at above address with address to send pictures to. You can also contact Denis at Irish Everest 2003 office in Kerry on 087 2884476 or 064 44181 for photos from web of Everest.

Everest mans greatest challenges against altitude.

Below is brief on April 10^th to 13^th which may be of interest.

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Up early this morning. We each had packed rucksacks weighing 15kg-20kg; containing our heavy down gear for higher on the mountain in addition to personal items, food for 3 days and climbing equipment. We ate a warm breakfast and wished Clare happy birthday, now 32 years. What a present to get for her birthday, the ice fall with a heavy pack, this without doubt will be one of the hardest days that she’ll ever have to endure on any of her birthdays- the hardship of one of the toughest ice-falls in the world.

As we passed the French Camp, there was a palpable sadness in the air. It must have been very difficult for the team members to know that the body of their friend lay in a tent nearby. We paid our commiseration’s and carried on in silence. This is again a poignant reminder of the dangers at high altitude on Everest and a caution to be forever vigilant while on the mountain.

There were several teams on the same route as us today, but we were the only ones heading for Camp 1. We started slowly; although the route was more familiar to us and we were generally more confident on the ladders, the loads we were carrying in addition to the altitude made for hard work from the start. Already the route is changing, more and more crevasses are opening up and the ladders that were secure a week ago now stand loose from the walls they were attached to, making crossing more dangerous.

Once again, the views through the ice-fall were spectacular. As we got further and further from Base Camp, the ice formations became more breath-taking. We continued slowly without a break for 3-4 hours until we reached what is know as the popcorn field- thousands of blocks of ice boulders which we had to negotiate. As the sun became hotter, we became weaker and completely dehydrated as the altitude and the sun drained every bit of our energy; we were forced to stop and take some fluids. Everyone found the day very tough. In all, we climbed at a painstaking pace for about 7 hours to break through to camp one in one of the most dangerous sections of the mountain, a flowing river of ice that’s constantly moving. We were relieved to get out of this horror chamber and gain the plateau of the western cwm; but we are also aware of the fact that this is just the first incursion of 10 before we will be finished with this section of the mountain.

The South African team were at Camp 1 for the night also. Robin, one of their team members has had problems with his chest and is heading back down to Base Camp, not feeling too well with the effects of the hard push and altitude-related problems.

We quickly sorted our tents and gear then wrapped up in our Down suits for a warm dinner. Although exhausted, everyone is tolerating this altitude (19,800ft) and is otherwise fit and well.

Click below for Photo of: Heavy loads for Camp 1, Ladder crossing over 200ft crevasse.

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Day 28 April 11 - Camp 1: A push towards two. Baked in a basin.

After a restful night’s sleep, we got up as the sun hit our tents for breakfast. We forced as many calories in as possible, although our appetites have declined compared to Base Camp. We will now lose weight rapidly if we don’t take in the sufficient energy and are depending on supplements that we have brought to keep up our energy. These include Scandishake, Build up, Lucozade and Goo supplements. Energy versus Lost Energy cost success. We are all aware that from here on in we need 3000 to 5000 calories intake; this will be one of the most important things to watch.

After breakfast, we got geared up and began to head towards Camp 2. The route is very different up here - more like a flat plateau of ice with occasional crevasses. As we trekked, we passed a number of teams coming against us, including the South Africans and several sherpas. It was a relief not to have to carry a load and our pace was better. As we progressed, amazing views of Everest came in to our line of vision. We could see virtually the entire route from the South Col, to the yellow band, the South summit and the summit itself. An awesome, but difficult looking spectacle.

At a height of 20, 350 feet, we turned and headed back to Camp 1. We are joined here tonight by a 4-member group who are aiming to climb Lhotse; we have challenged them to a game of cards this evening so it could be a long night!

All the team are doing exceptionally well given the fact that we have just pushed our way through to camp 1 and made a sortie into a new altitude of 20350feet to gain extra height for the next push to camp 2, which should be in four to five days time. Hoping for another good night’s sleep at camp 1 before descending through the chamber of horrors tomorrow. I think going down through this is more difficult than ascending.

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Day 29 April 12 - Camp 1-Base Camp:

We were up at sun rise this morning after suffering a cold night in our sleeping bags (temperatures down to -200C). We were keen to get moving relatively early so that we would make it through the ice-fall before the strong midday sun. We were moving pretty well; the descent was easier because the route was somewhat more familiar, and we were no longer carrying heavy loads, which we had discarded at Camp 1. However the dangers of the ice fall are growing as the days are getting warmer so more caution is called for; more and more crevasses are opening up as the snow and ice bridges are collapsing and the instability of the ice-fall is becoming more and more evident. Some of the ladders that we are crossing are now free from the ice walls and are loose in places, while the fixed lines no longer lived up to their names. This called for extreme caution at all times, -crevasses that were one foot wide two days ago (that we were able to jump) are now two to three feet wide and requiring more maintenance.

At one point on the climb down, in what we call the popcorn field, the fixed line disappeared behind some ice blocks which had fallen the previous day. Ger had just passed through here and was being followed by George, who was in the centre of this ice field. Suddenly an explosive sound, like that of a bomb going off occurred. Mick roared from above ‘run George’ and above his shout, everyone heard a loud crashing sound. We turned to see a huge block of ice crack off and hurtle in George’s direction from behind. He ran furiously in the opposite direction, narrowly escaping it as it crashed to a halt just 20 meters behind him. Mick caught up with him within a few minutes to make sure everything was OK. Apart from having got a fright, he was otherwise fine; we all decided to move a little more quickly to get out of there as soon as possible. The ice fall was living up to its expectations.

Within about 3 hours, we were safely back at Base Camp. Everyone was pretty wrecked and crashed for the afternoon. Our plan for the next couple of days is to relax; we are aiming to head for Camp 1 and proceed to Camp 2 on April 15^th.

As we made our way through, we met a number of teams. This included a couple of female climbers; there seems to be only a handful on the mountain this year. Apart from the South African climber, there are also Canadian, Korean, Swiss and Japanese female climbers. We now believe there are seven females in total.

On returning to Base Camp, we learnt that there was another helicopter rescue the previous day. One of the Mountain Madness team took a fall on Kala Pathar and was brought to the HRA medical clinic for assessment. It appears he either suffered a pulmonary contusion or actually fractured a rib, but was evacuated to safety.

Click below for photo of: View of the ice-fall en route to Base Camp.

Pat Falvey, from Base Camp.