Clouds blanket the summit of Everest.
Everyone has safely returned to Base Camp, and we expect to receive further updates to this Web site on Friday, May 21st. Steam from our mugs of milk tea hung in the air. As the sun rose, a lenticular cloud blanketed the summit and a white rime seemed to cover the whole mountain. The climbing was slow, with the team having to pull frozen ropes from the mountain. Although Anker's free climb will be in the shadows, his assessment of the Second Step is that it would be easier to traverse around to the right by several hundred feet, where the Chinese ladder is, and free-climb a crack to the left of the ladder rather than tackle the Step head on.