Fotos

After our second climb up to Camp 2 at a height of 6150m on the SW ridge of Ama Dablam I was feeling pretty wasted and so I was lying in the tent trying to get some rest, which is very hard to find at that altitude.

My tent mate was outside standing on the narrow ledges that make up Camp 2 and he excitedly told me to come outside and see the sunset. Feeling very jaded I summoned up the energy to get out of the tent to take a look secretly mumbling to myself "how good can it be, I have seen scores of Himalayan sunsets?"

As soon as I poked my head out of the door the hair on the back of my neck stood up as I was greeted to a vista the like I have not seen before. The panaroma was painted every shade between gold and purple and great shafts of light cut across the sky as the clouds scudded across the setting sun. All around literally thousands of massive glaciated peaks stretched up like rows of sharks teeth. As the sun steadily moved downwards the shafts of light changed angle and the colours turned a deeper gold until all was left was a pink then purple glow that finally faded to grey.

The temperature dropped rapidly and it was time to return to the sanctuary of the tent and my sleeping bag.

This shot can in no way do justice to that wondrous sunset, it can only give you a vague idea of what it is like to stand and watch it unfold.