I managed to get some sleep in The Barrels.  Ron was snoring very loudly and was waking himself up during the night.  Apart from feeling a little tired I was ready for another day on the mountain.

Having finished organising our equipment we headed for our breakfast.  The sun had come out and the scenery was spectacular as I tucked in to my porridge.  My chest was still causing me problems meaning that every time I tried to climb I lost energy quickly – almost as if I was permanently winded.

Ron and Ryan were great with me as they could see I was struggling.  If one climber failed to make it to the summit tomorrow then the whole group would have to abandon their dream and go down too.  I couldn’t do that to the guys so I made the difficult decision to join another group that might give me a better chance of reaching the summit.  Hopefully we will all summit tomorrow as we had planned but with me joining another group I could make the ascent a little slower.

Today was supposed to be taken at a slower pace than yesterday.  We were taken to a place near to The Barrels to develop our snow survival skills.  This entailed throwing yourself either forwards or backwards down the snow and using your ice axe to stop.  This proved to be great fun in the most incredible scenery.

After the snow lessons Ryan and I decided to skip lunch and go on an acclimatisation trek to the Diesel Huts at 4200m.  Although I was struggling at times with my chest cough Ryan patiently waited for me and was happy to go at my slower pace.  It meant a lot to me because walking along with someone helps to spur me on when times get tough.

Along the way we spotted several crevasses which have appeared since yesterday.  These crevasses were so deep we couldn’t see the bottom of them.  If anyone fell through a piece of overhanging ice they would be very badly injured.

Pressing on we continued up the steep slopes towards the Diesel Huts.  After nearly two hours we reached our destination.  Whilst enjoying a cup of mint tea and a handful of nuts I saw the entire Caucasus range in all its glory.  Straight ahead of us was Mount Cheget, slightly to the right was Georgia and a couple of miles to our left was Asia.

After a few minutes rest we set off back to The Barrels.  Incredibly it only took us 18 minutes to make the journey back.  I suppose descending is easier on my chest – if not my feet!

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