We woke up (with morning tea brought to the tents!) at 4am and started climbing at 5am, an hour before sunrise. By 6, the sun had reached us, and by 8 were on the top, though Chris had been too tired and had turned back earlier. The climb had been even more straightforward than usual, as there was much snow on the ground, which held the mountain together and made scrambling sections much easier. The final section was a bit exposed, so the sherpas fixed some rope (a testament to their skill in such loose rock) for us to follow safely. I soloed the last few meters ahead of the others, which gave me a very pleasant 20 minutes on the summit on my own.

By then, however, I couldn't ignore the growing headache anymore. I was still hoping it was dehydration but the suspicions of AMS were getting stronger. I descended ahead both to lose altitude and to get out of the sun but started getting weaker. The descent from high camp to base camp, normally an easy hour, took me twice as long and I was so unusually fatigued that there was concern about HACE (Cerebral Edema, which can be fatal in a few hours if no step is taken) but since I was still articulate - as much as usual, at least - coherent and hadn't lost coordination, Mungo and I decided the best course of action was to spend a night at Base Camp and see how I would feel in the morning. After resting in the afternoon and hydrating copiously, the headache receded. I thought I was out of the woods.

A traversing section of the climb up Pokalde, as a new day was dawning.

Easy scramble on snow up the flanks of Pokalde.

Chyote was leading the way, as always. In the background, first light over Makalu.

John on the stop we made to undress and put sunglasses on, as soon as the sun reached us.

Rachel, John and Mark coming up Pokalde.

Mark getting close to the summit, with the Nuptse-Lhotse wall in the background.

The group coming up over a magnificent backdrop.

Chyote on the traverse below the summit, going ahead to fix ropes. In the background, the Taboche-Cholatse group.

Karma fixing rope below the summit.

The summit cairn of Pokalde. 5806m.

360° panorama from the summit of Pokalde, showing from left to right, the Kongma La pass, Nuptse, Lhotse, Island Peak, Makalu, Ama Dablam, Taboche, Cholatse, Lobuje East and Pumori (and of course many, many others).

Click on the image for a larger version.

The rest of the group coming up the last few meters below the summit.

Chyote and Mungo waving to the first summiter.

Torben coming up the fixed line. Though the final section was a bit exposed, the main danger was falling stones as the ground was extremely loose.

Chongba below the summit block.

Chongba helps Mark up. The last section had to be soloed as the summit blocks were too loose to fix rope.

Amazingly, despite half a dozen expeditions to the mountain, Mungo had never been on the actual top! Chyote celebrates his first Pokalde summit. Mungo still remains the only Jagged Globe not to have summited Mont Blanc.

Karma supervises Mark setting up an abseil from the summit.

Back in Base Camp, Norrie admires sunset over Ama Dablam.

After quite a few botched tries, I finally managed to get a startrail photo over Ama Dablam. 30 minutes exposure.