Nearly finished packing now. I have most of my stuff together – just a few last minute things like getting the food into a bag, and pulling my shoes together.

I am sure that this has been the same throughout history, the last minute panic of getting the equipment together. There are some differences: no doubt Mallory and Irving didn’t have to worry about the memory on their digital camera or clearing down their heart rate monitor.

My running rucsac is reassuringly light, which makes me happy, although it is lacking food and water.

What I have got is a small bag of clothes for when I finish. Hopefully if I catch the sleeper I will have some nice clean dry clothes to put on for the trip back down.