Looking down from the south summit

This photo illustrates quite well the steepness of the south-east ridge, leading up to the south summit with the south col below.. The photo was taken from near the top of the south summit, I'm on flat ground but still around 50m horizontal from the typical view point for the summit ridge. The rocky section just below presents 2 deceptively difficult spurs, quite steep and loose rock requiring scrambling with hands, the difficultly is mainly due to the oxygen mask imparing your vision i.e. you can't see your feet. Also the bulky clothes and altitude add to the difficulty. The tents of camp 4 can be seen on the rockyy section of the south col mid-right. American Dale Wagner, Briton David Fairweather & Sherpa Tenji are below, 19 May 2009.