Jacob Schmitz sent us some nice shots from the team’s foray up the steep and icy Lhotse Face.  The group climbed up the fixed lines to the site of their Camp 3, in order to both further their acclimatization and to familiarize themselves with the lines.  Fixed lines are lengths of rope that are affixed to the slope using different anchors, depending on the conditions.  Climbers attach themselves to these lines using carabiners and a length of cord or webbing and often also using a mechanical camp known as an ascender.  These devices will slide in one direction (up!) and grip the rope when weighted downwards.

The team departed Camp 2 at about 7 am and made fast work of getting to Camp 3, arriving well before lunchtime!  The Lhotse Face is pretty icy right now as you can see in the photo below.

After spending a bit of time at Camp 3, the team descended back down to Camp 2 for the night.  It was a tough day climbing to close to 7200m and the team welcomed a good night’s sleep at Camp 2.

The Mountain Trip/Mountain Madness team descends out of Camp 3.  Camp 2 is visible below.

Back at Camp 2, they enjoyed warm bowls of garlic soup, followed by french fries, seasoned beans and cauliflower.

Great job everyone!!!