Christmas had been completely forgotten by now and whilst everyone at home would be tucking into turkey sandwiches and selection boxes it was time for us to enter further into unknown territory.  It was time for our first carry to Camp 2 at 5800m, much higher than we had ever been before.  (Mont Blanc stands at 4260m).  At this point we were both feeling quite strong and very much enjoying the whole experience, particularly as our fellow group members were such good company – (don’t tell them I said that they’ll get big heads!).  But how we would cope as we continued to climb was very much unknown.

 Whilst the distance between Camp 1 and 2 was less than that between Base Camp and Camp 1, the climb was much harder due to the altitude.  Whilst I did not find I was out of breath at all, I did find that I felt generally quite tired.  There was obviously considerably less conversation by this point and therefore it was important to be-able to manage the thoughts going round in our heads so as not to allow the tiredness and negative thoughts to take over.  The mental aspects of such a trip are often underestimated.  Success can be reliant on your ability to keep going when all you want to do is rest and in order to do this it is vital to stay focussed on the goal ahead and remember why you are there in the first place.  In the periods where I felt I was struggling to keep going I would visualise myself reaching the end point for the day and how good I would feel when I’d achieved it.  Also, by this stage, I was beginning to visualise what it would feel like to stand on the summit after all this hard work, both before we even left the UK in terms of preparation and once we’d arrived in Argentina. 

 Anyway, the first half of the day was a slog up a pretty large and dull scree slope (for a change!!).  However, we came out of the Col to experience a breathtaking vista of the surrounding snow topped peaks which was truly spectacular and a perfect spot for lunch.  We tucked into our feast of cereal bars, sweets and chocolate (weight watchers eat your hearts out!) whilst ignoring the steep section leading off into the distance up towards Camp 2.  We’d worry about that after lunch.  Denial is also an essential factor for mountaineering at times!

And once we did get going again, it wasn’t as bad as we thought it might have been.  The terrain varied a bit as well which helped to keep us occupied mentally.  After the steep section we crossed a glaciated section and then it wasn’t too much further until we reached Camp 2.  However, our guide made us push on and climb higher up towards Camp 3 (bully!) as he felt this would help with our acclimatisation (easy for him to say!).  This section was tough as we had mentally prepared to get to Camp 2 and then to stop and by now we were pretty exhausted.  But we did it and after about an hour of climbing it was time to turn around and descend all the way back to Camp 1 for the night.  However, we had ten minutes at this point to relax and take in the views, something that you sometimes forget to do when you’re slogging uphill, or simply can’t do when the weather turns bad. 

Again I found the rapid descent caused my head to pound and I felt a little nauseous.  I found it quite frustrating that I was strong in going up but not as good coming down.  To me it seemed illogical for it to be that way round!  However, descending too quickly can also have an effect on the body just as ascending too quickly does.  However, our guides had obviously had enough of us slow westerners and would whiz down the mountain at lightening pace in order to sort out camp logistics.  Whilst a couple of the group attempted to keep up, the rest of us made our own way down, we were in no rush as the sun was out and the hard work for the day had been completed.  And it was back for dinner just as the weather started to turn…