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The Puja Ceremony
The food ready as an offering as well as for the celebration
The Puja altar
The Lama (in orange) leading the ceremony
A pole is raised carrying flags representing all the climbers in the group
Juniper is at the top of the pole
At certain points in the ceremony, everyone threw rice towards the altar
Jim (left) and Paul at basecamp
Fiona trying out the practice ladder which is suspended above a small frozen lake
Fiona on the trek up to Kala Patar (everest is the black mountain in the background)
The view of Everest from Kala Patar
Fiona and Mingma on Kala Patar
A view of a nearby mountain from basecamp
Our campsite at basecamp (people often air their sleeping bags out on their tents during the day)
Paul outside our tent at basecamp
Jack, Fiona & Bridget in the dining tent
The two toilet tents
Paul and Fiona taking a walk around the base of the icefall
Bridget and Chris at the base of the icefall
Bridget, Chris, Paul and Fiona at the Puja Altar
The helicopter wreck from a few years earlier
Fiona with the same wreck
The landscape around the base of the icefall
Bridget looking back towards basecamp
A typical meal - vegetable quiche, cooked spam, coleslaw and tomatoes
Chris and Paul in the lodge at Pheriche from where Chris and Bridget headed down the next day
Back at basecamp - and Paul is in to see the doctors at the Himalayan Rescue Association (HRA)
Most of the team at breakfast digging into doughnuts and eggs
Fiona doing the laundry outside the cook tent
Inside the cook tent
Inside the Sherpa dining tent
A view of basecamp
The Sherpa dining tent
At the start of the icefall
Looking through a telescope from basecamp at Sherpas carrying an injured climber down through the icefall
Paul having a shave
Walter shaving
Basecamp after a storm dumped about a foot of snow
Another view of basecamp
Inside the storage tent - tents, stoves, and other supplies ready to be taken up to the high camps
Paul collecting snow to build up the helicopter pad
After the accident where the 3 Sherpas died in the icefall everyone at basecamp put in a huge effort in case a rescue was needed)
Fiona during a game of charades after dinner (in the background are the photos of our whole Sherpa team)
Paul getting our gear ready for a trip up higher
Jim at the base of the icefall
Dennis taking a drink at the base of the icefall
Paul inside the supplies tent - selecting food to take up to the higher camps
Nema filling up the water tank - the elevation gave the shower a small amount of pressure
Another accident involving an Italian who fell in the icefall and hit his head. Everyone helped to carry him to the helicopter pad (Paul in red)
Paul, Marcus, Karl, Walter & Jim playing cards after dinner
Fiona practicing with the oxygen mask at basecamp
Paul with the oxygen set up at basecamp
Mark manages to fit in several rounds of basecamp golf!
Mary doing her laundry
Fiona getting out of our tent
When we got back to basecamp after our summit push, Mary came to the base of the icefall and climbed up the first section
Paul and Mary at the start of the icefall
Paul giving Danuru a big tip - Danuru gave his oxygen to Paul on his way down from the South Summit
The view outside from Dennis' tent
Fiona and Paul in the dining tent at Everest basecamp
Looking up at Everest (the one with the cloud plume coming off it) from Kala Patar
Paul and Lakpa on Kala Patar
Lunchtime at Everest base camp
Paul, Tim and Damien at Everest basecamp
Paul with Mt Everest in the background (from Kala Patar)
Paul relaxing in his tent and writing a blog post at Everest basecamp
Prayer flags flying over Everest basecamp
Remi and Attila at Everest basecamp
Paul washing clothes at Everest basecamp
The moon shining over Everest basecamp
Rugged up for dinner at Everest basecamp
Everest basecamp after a big snowfall
Paul testing out the oxygen system
Fiona and Marg at Everest basecamp
Marg, Fiona and Paul at Everest basecamp
Julia, Denise, Marg, Beck, Fiona and Liz at Everest basecamp
Exploring the start of the icefall at Everest basecamp
The whole group at Everest basecamp
Fiona washing clothes at Everest basecamp
A helicopter taking off from Everest basecamp
The altar for our group at Everest basecamp (note the Australian flag)
Paul and Fiona at the start of the icefall near Everest basecamp
Everest as seen from Kala Patar (the mountain at the back which appears to have smoke coming off it)
The group on top of Kala Patar - keeping fit for climbing
Paul at the start of the icefall
Paul and Attila at basecamp - fuelling up before heading further up the mountain
Paul in his tent, drying socks and posting a blog update
Paul and the other climbers light juniper for luck before heading off for their summit bid
Paul putting crampons on to head up the mountain through the icefall
Paul and the other climbers heading off into the icefall in the early morning
The icefall from a basecamp - you can see the climbers heading up
Remi and Fiona on top of Kala Patar while Paul and Attila are up high on Everest
Prayer flags at Everest basecamp
Fiona on the Thuraya satellite phone while Paul is up at the high camps
Remi, Ptemba and Fiona - anxiously awaiting news as Paul and Attila make their summit bid on Everest