Lizzie and Keith in South America: The Climb!!!!!!!

The Climb!! Our first day was spent on a glacier practicing walking on the snow and ice using the crampons and practicing using the ice axe to stop ourselves sliding down the side of the mountain!
After a tiring afternoon we returned to base camp where we had dinner and got an early night.
The second day started with a large breakfast and lunch before we climbed to high camp. We arrived at 4pm, had dinner and went to bed. There was no electricity in the tin hut and the altitude meant we were pretty tired so we were all asleep by 6pm. We didn´t have a very good night due to extremely strong winds and a lot of snow and probably the anticipation of what was to come.
At 1.30am we woke and started putting on additional layers, our harnesses, boots, ropes, crampons, hats, gloves etc. etc. etc. We tried to eat some food and drink some more coca tea ( to help with the altitude) and then it was time to climb.
It is hard to describe how hard both Keith and I found the following 6 hours. As well as the climb being physically tough, due both to the steepness of the mountain and the high altitude, it was also pretty frightening at times. There were some massive cravases that we needed to cross. Keith and I were roped to our guide but I wasn´t sure how he would be able to help if one of us slipped off the edge of the ice. The last 300m of the climb were along a steep ridge with 1000m sheer drops either side. There was just enough room to step one foot at a time and I found it absolutely terrifying.
We finally arrived at the summit where we took a few photos before asking our guide if we could start heading down. The wind and snow had picked up and it was quite scary sitting on the top of the mountain. Unfortunately the wind had become too strong for us to move and when Keith asked Felix if we were in danger and he replied yes I very nearly cried. Keith then asked Felix how long we might have to stay on the summit and her responded with an answer of until the storm passes, perhaps 3 hours. Felix then made sure both Keith and I were completely wrapped up in our layers and tried to keep me calm :)
Thankfully 5-10 minutes later he informed us that we were going to start heading down. It was such a relief that the terrifying ridge seemed a little less scary. After a few hours we arrived back at high camp and after an hours sleep we trekked back to base camp. Following a welcome hot lunch we returned to La Paz feeling very proud of ourselves and with some incredible memories.