Hello everybody out there and happy midnight. Yes, it is after midnight for us on Mount Everest. The first group got out about quarter after, or 20 after, eight.

The second group looked like they were pretty much on track at 10pm. As we speak, we are most of the way up the Triangular Face to the Balcony. It's an absolutely gorgeous night, full moon shining off the mountains and the snow. We're above the majority of the clouds here. It's not terribly cold, about three miles per hour of winds. Just, like I said, an absolutely beautiful evening to be climbing high in the Himalayas.

We were sad to actually have Al turn around fairly early in the evening. He didn't feel like he was up to it so he went back to camp, high camp in the South Col. Everybody else is moving and, in the case of the first batch, it's slow and steady, and the case of the other folks coming up, not so slow and steady. The trailbreaking up here has been rather tasking this evening and so it's slowing the first team down quite a bit.

Be that as it may we're having an absolutely beautiful evening and we hope this continues. It's going to be just about four-and-a-half to five more hours until sun(rise). And we'll hoping we'll step on the Balcony where... and we'll keep you updated on our progress as this evening unfolds.

— Willi Prittie, Alpine Ascents International Guide and MountainZone.com Correspondent

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