So following on from yesterday's culinary adventure to Basecamp, today I wish to go 'through the keyhole' and see what BC is really like. The strip (as BC is known) is a long spit of moraine in the Godwin Austin Glacier. Moraine (in this case) is a section of rock and scree on the surface of the ice itself. This forms naturally as the rock that falls from the mountains themselves get carried onto the glacier and then extruded out into long thin causeways which stretch for many miles 'downstream'. At this point, the juxtaposition of the ice and the rock is very obvious and noticeable, whereas the further down the glacier you get the more the edges begin to blur, and often the surface ice seems to be the lesser quantity. Our strip is about 60m wide, with a heavily crevassed jumble of ice to our north (also where a glacier emanating from the south face of K2 joins the G.A.G.). On our other side is the large expansive centre of the glacier main, which looks relatively flat from a distance, but up close is covered with ice pinnacles and formations up to 6ft high. As we are in a relatively flat and constant section of the valley (by that I mean constant direction and height, and not to many other glaciers joining), the structure of the glacier is pretty sound. Up at the top end towards the start of the Abruzzi ridge, where a number of glaciers meet, and there is an elevation drop, the glacier is a tumultuous sea of crashing crevasses and ice formations. Here, you have to be very careful about picking a safe route through this jumble of frozen blocks and yawning chasms. This is not to say that we are on a croquet lawn (although it might seem so in comparison)! Even our strip is festooned with crevasses and splits in the ice. Most of them aren't much wider than a foot or so, but you obviously have to watch your footing as you wander around camp or up and down the strip. The strip as I mentioned earlier is covered in rocks of all shapes and sizes, mostly relatively small, but some are larger than cars, and perched on frightfully fragile looking pedestals of ice. In actual fact, these rock 'mushrooms' tend to be incredibly strong, although I would still be reluctant to pitch my tent in the shadow of one - for obvious reasons. At night you can hear the glacier moving, sometimes as groans and vibrations, other times as sudden cracks and metallic sounding twangs as the massive forces at work beneath our tents reach their elastic limit and a new 'baby' crevasse is formed. Although usually perfectly innocuous, a sudden crack in the middle of the night will certainly make the heart skip a beat, especially if it seems to happen right below you. A few mornings ago (and after several of these heart stopping snaps) I noticed a crevasse forming right underneath my tent - which is dreadfully tedious. I now sleep on a bit of an angle, and will soon have to move my tent - not so much to avoid being swallowed by the ice in the middle of the night, but more so that I don't have to sleep on an ever increasing incline.

Our camp itself seems to resemble the aftermath of Glastonbury - just without the mud, and a few less unconscious dreadlocked hippies (although if I hadn't washed my hair a few days ago, it would have been close!). Due to our uneven and gradually morphing camp site, their are no rows of regimented tents like you might see in other basecamps - no, ours tend to be scattered wherever the respective tenant can find a decent flat spot of rocks (although no doubt they'll be looking to move within a week or two). Each of the ten expedition members is in a North Face VE25, which is a strong and spacious (for one) basecamp dome tent. We've then got the large Marmot Dome tent which I've described in previous dispatches, but is nice and large (you can stand up fully in it) and the floor has been carpeted in large foam sheets for comfort and insulation. We've also got three large box tents which are a kitchen, mess (dining) and kitchen storage tent respectively). Didar and the 3 kitchen staff sleep in the kitchen itself (as it is nice and warm). The High Altitude Porters (HAPS) sleep in two other dome tents next to the kitchen, and every day they seem to be repositioning, rebuilding, re-levelling and just generally tinkering with their tent platforms to make them as comfortable as possible. Other than all of those, all that's left are the shower tent and the toilet tent, which sit a respectable distance off to the north side of the camp (all water is collected from a steam on the south side of the moraine - this we hope is the same for all camps up along here!). There are now a motley bunch of expeditions here at BC, none bigger than ours (although amenities do differ significantly from camp to camp due to budget or national identity!).

Below us we have the Japanese Expedition (6-7 climbers on Abruzzi) and the Chinese/Pakistan Friendship Expedition (2 climbers on Abruzzi). The Swiss team who were also down there flew out a couple of days ago by helo - due to having started on Broad Peak, and after not achieving the summit, we can only speculate that they had had enough and decided to bug out. Above us (further up the strip) are the Spanish Expedition (5 climbers Abruzzi), an American team (2 climbers Abruzzi), David and Galinda (on the Cezen with us), and the Korean Team (1 Korean with 2 Sherpas).

I'm sure that a few more waifs and strays will turn out in the next couple of weeks (people who have acclimatised and had success on other big hills nearby, e.g. Nanga Parbat), but as you can see we are a relatively small bunch of people, all seeking to achieve the same thing, but by different means. Although my no means as large at BCs on Everest or other big hills, it is still a very cosmopolitan affair, with many different nationalities, ages, men and women, those who are attempting it siege-style, others who are trying it alpine, and even the Japanese, who according to their expedition brochure that they gave us when they arrived, are attempting it polar style?! We are still yet to see their pulks or their huskies, but nothing will surprise us!

Anyway - I hope that that might have further illustrated the image that you may have of our meagre little operation. It's now cold, dark, my numb fingers are smashing multiple keys at once, which is making for very slow progress (and more work for my editor back in Blighty - cheers Dad!). I can hear cracks under my tent (perhaps that crevasse will get hungry tonight!) and rockfall from the crags and mountains all around. I have a hot water bottle in my sleeping bag, and am looking forward to crawling in... So, for tonight, to steal Bugs Bunny's line - 'That's all folks'. =

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