Gerald Oxley and I believe Hamad called in a nice post from Camp 3!  The team pushed hard through very challenging weather to make it up to the site of the 14,200′ camp.  They had to climb up two significant, named slopes, the first known as Motorcycle Hill, and then Squirrel Hill.  Both are physically taxing and have hazards specific to each.  After the could of hours it took to climb those slopes, they traversed a long, rising section of glacier to the infamous “Windy Corner,” where a steep rib of rock and ice drops sharply down from the West Buttress proper.  They had to climb up a hill to turn around the base of this rib or corner, before ascending a different glacier up to the broad basin that makes up the site of Camp 3.  You can see Windy Corner on the image below.  It is the sun/shadow line immediately down and left from the 14,200′ Camp.

Windy Corner lived up to its name for the team, with Gerald reporting 60 Kph winds as the team pushed past.  It is hard to describe what that translates to the team, but they were undoubtedly wearing lots of warm clothes, and doing their best to protect their faces and eyes from the biting sting of the wind, with the use of goggles and face masks.

Climbers pass Windy Corner on a windy day.

Here is Gerald and Hamad (if I’m wrong about the second speaker, someone with a better grasp of Arabic than me, please let me know!):

recording