Just follow your nose. These castle-like formations have been wind sculpted for hundreds of years and no where in the world are they as tall as here. Everest stood above us, and on the 19th the wind barely blew from its summit, making it appear so gentle in comparison to the wind swept days we had been witnessing. Just a few feet or inches beneath this layer of rock, is the glacier. At this point, the East Rongbuk glacier is a few hundred feet thick.
Crevasses criss cross the moraine, a few even radiate through our site.
A number of teams have been active on the hill already. Fixed ropes now stretch to almost 8200 meters. This is much earlier than previous years. 11 mm static line, that survived the harsh summer, fall and winter weather. International Mountain Guides- arrived a few weeks before us.