7 hours of 4x4, 3 days walking and 44 carriers were useful to join the base camp at 4300m high. It’s not very comfortable: there is still a lot of snow, the lake is still frozen but it’s not enough to let our motivation drop.

The trek was not very easy: no path, many glaciers to cross, a lot of snow, an irregular weather.

After 2 days resting, the alpinists decided to go and discover the face (not visible from the base camp). Yesterday, it snowed earlier than expected; they had to make a U-turn. On 20/05, they were luckier: 4 hours by walk enabled them to reach the lower part of the mountain, 5000m high. There is still a lot of snow on the 2000m composing this face.

In spite of some difficulties with their satellite phone, news from the router came:

Still 2 days of bad weather, then 4 sunny days. They will try to spend a night aloft to acclimate themself; they just need to find an easy summit because small mountains are rare around them.

The army officer lives still with them, he crosses off every day left on his little notebook. He stays in his tent (the base camp is surrounded by glaciers, preventing him from walking) and eats alone. He’s not a burden anymore, atmosphere is better.

Everybody feels well despite the tiredness due to altitude. Motivation is growing.