A short video from Windy Corner

The team is waking up right now and will all join together in our custom built cook tents, which are pyramidal in shape, and have no floor. When they first moved into Camp 2, the climbers all pitched in to dig down in the snow to about shoulder height. Shelves and a bench were all carved into the snow, and the tent is erected over the pit with single, center pole. When six stoves are fired up inside to cook, it is a warm and cozy place to wake up inside.

Breakfast is sometimes a quick bowl of oatmeal or cereal, but often is a more elaborate affair, consisting of pancakes, eggs, hash browns, french toast, or, my favorite, chilaquiles (a Mexican breakfast food consisting of egg covered tortilla chips smothered in enchilada sauce and cheese!). Hot drinks are encouraged, and good coffee is there for the enlightened.

After dining, they will pack up loads to carry up Motorcycle Hill, up the next rise called Squirrel Hill, across a long plateau and finally up and around a shoulder of rock that drops off the West Buttress proper called Windy Corner.

Windy Corner can be a nice jaunt around a rocky crag or it can be a tough test of one's mettle. Below is a video I shot in 2007 of a trip around the corner that fell into the latter category. Let's hope the crew gets a nicer day to punch around the corner...