Northern Ireland Everest Expedition 2003
On the mountain

First we waited at ABC for the winds to abate. Many tents were destroyed here when the worst hit.

About 45 minutes out of ABC the climb up the North Col begins. From the second person from the bottom of the above pic
there was fixed rope all the way up, and only one 10 metre section that was steep, although there are plenty of sections
that look spectacular (below). It took us between 3 hours (with a load) to Banjo's seven hours to trek and climb it.

Tent city! This is ABC from part way up to the North Col. We melted ice for water.

North Col at around 7050m, a huge serac shelters this area most of the time, but when the 7 day "wind storm" hit,
the wind must have ripped thru because about half the tents were destroyed. A few days after most were replaced.
We had one tent destroyed and a sleeping bag lost, but the rest of the gear was OK.
At 7500m we lost a tent with 4 tents inside it and 5 oxygen bottles, simply blown away.

From 7500m the route turns to rock and camp 2 can be put from 7600m to 7900m.
Here ours was at 7700m, on a narrow ledge as they virtually all are.

The route climbs the north ridge (which joins the north-east ridge to the right) on partly loose rock.

By Camp 3 (here) at 8300m, there really isn't much of a north ridge, it has flattened out and the route hugs under some outcrops,
getting more challenging and steeper. There was a mass of tents here, but by the time we headed down there was virtually
only rubbish left. The area is littered with oxygen bottles, and not all empty either.
Although most expeditions would like to take out this rubbish in practice the sherpas are tired by this stage,
many of them having summitted, and there simply isn't the carrying power to get the stuff down.
Every expedition left substantial rubbish up there (including us).

Clearing the mountain in double or triple loads.