Mt. Everest 2005: Valencia WE'RE BITTING OUR NAILS HERE IN BASE CAMP

We finished dinner and went out the mess tent.  Next thing to do, brush our teeth, we take the toothbrush and toothpaste from the chillout and we exit to our known close rocks on which we can not make two steps without tumbling, do you know who was waiting for us?  The Yeti, no, I'm kidding, we haven't seen Uncle Esau yet, but it would be big news and a good scare.

Yes, we had something wonderful waiting for us, while we were brushing out white teeth, we just happened to look up and surprise. 

The darkness which we were so used to look surprised us and what we were seeing, a million stars shining from the sky over the entire Khumbu glacier.

We couldn't stop looking, cold, a little, -4ºC, but the moment was worth it and nobody wanted to go into the tent and lose the first show.

We all tried to count the stars but it was practically impossible, on the first try some 296,884 stars, but David discovered another which was blocked by a rope, good for David, now it is 296,885 stars, we can go happily to sleep, we are the masters of BC.

No, no kidding, there were a lot, a lot of stars and it was the best night we've had here.

The night is perfect for meditation and to think about the things each of us have inside, there were some lights in BC but we only heard silence, nobody thought about the cold, it was more gratifying to be able to see the millions of little dots in this sky at 5,300 meters, it is wonderful to enjoy this moments, close your eyes and try to imagine yourself here looking the white glacier ice, feeling a light breeze in the face and dreaming that we will soon be together on the summit of the highest mountain of the world.

It was a great night, I hope we can repeat it in a few hours so that it will be useful for tomorrow's chronicle, ok?

Something has to be said about today, we have also had sun and after breakfast, backpacks on our back and march, we have gone down the valley, as if our mission here was over, in the middle of the moraine, and a new "path" climbed to Pumori, surprise, we have found a little, no, very little flat of grass and dirt, there were some edelweiss a little dead, but there was no ice and that was enough to lay a moment under the sun and the wind, a drink of water and we have tried to communicate with our Sherpas, who we supposed were in CII, we could not contact them and next thing was take out the logos of our sponsors.

We were high and with a nice view of Everest, like good models, let's get to work and a picture here, another one there (remember Mecano, shadow here, shadow there), because David the photographer said, to the left, to the right, up, down and then he came running and jumping, "they are going to .... with this picture" and he stood next to his two teammates.

Now, let's go somewhere else, and we enjoyed the place without rocks for a while, and the best is we did not have ice under our feet.

After the pictures and having contemplated the summit of Sagarmata, the great ridge that leads to the summit of Nuptse, it was time to eat, so quickly and passing people who are doing trekking we wend back to BC.

Today is Diego Zubani's birthday, but we have saved the best celebration for dinner, among polenta and boiled potatoes, the walkie talkie rings and, surprise, it is our Sherpas, but they talk from CIII, two of them have stayed in CII and other two will spend the night in CIII.

That's a good sign, they have finally climbed the Lhotse face, and we thought we have lost our tents, sleeping bags and oxygen we have in CIII.

Tomorrow, everybody will climb to CIV and will surely do a materials depot.

We will contact them at 12 in the morning and 18 in the afternoon, we will be waiting for information about the weather, the wind, the status of the route, I hope good weather comes so that we can soon make a summit attack.

For the moment the forecasts that arrive are not very good, wind, cold and snow are expected in the next few days.

Patience and keep waiting.

If somebody wants a particular picture or that we talk about something in concrete, post it in the visitor's book and maybe, only maybe, we will do it. 

With spirit and illusion from BC, the abominables send you a big hug to all of you who make this adventure possible and give us strength.  Thanks for all the support.

Translated from Spanish by Jorge Rivera

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