Day 13 16.12.22 - The final descent; a champagne reception and mountain karaoke

December 16, 2022

Return trip from high camp to base camp today.

13km trip, 6 and half hours. 2km descent. Back through the fixed lines, back to the low camp where we picked up the dreaded sleds, before the 9km final trek to base camp.

The beautiful sunshine continued and it was almost t-shirt weather. Apart from that my feet were sore from a three day hammering and I couldn’t be happier when we got close to the end.

Except that the sun and weather changed dramatically when we approached base camp. A low hanging cloud and fog sat on the camp which meant our hope to be flown out disappeared for the night. While descending we saw a plane approaching for landing but aborting at the last minute.

To counter the disappointment of a missed departure, a champagne reception was waiting for us with canapés and fruit!!!

Lots of team photos and congratulations; we settled into our old mega tent for what probably was the last dinner with the team.

Everyone celebrated, but some of us stayed late for a karaoke night. Our beautiful rendition of some old tunes must have helped because finally at midnight the fog lifted and I went to bed with a beautiful sunshine. A good omen for our departure tomorrow (today by the time I went to bed).