Below is a diary of entries journaling today's move from C2 to C3. Special thanks to the Italian Team for facilitating sending this dispatch.

-Joel Shalowitz 

Tuesday, 6:45 am

This morning we awoke to find base camp blanketed with 6" of new snow.  It had snowed all night and it was still coming down.  Chris radioed down saying the inside of the tent was a "rainforest" - the swirling winds and snow had blown inside the space between the outer tarp and the outside of the inner tent , so the evaporating and condensing moisture from the climbers inside the tent was causing "sweat drops" to rain down on them.

As they had yet to leave the tent, they still didn't know how much snow had fallen around them. However, we all knew from yesterday's forecast that the wind speeds were expected to lessen in the late morning so the decision was made to sit tight and wait for the next weather forecast, expected between 9 and 10 am.

Tuesday, 7:15 am

Joao Garcia, a Portuguese climber whose tent was several meters away from ours at Camp 2, radios the team.  He has received his own forecast from home, so he and Chris compare notes.  Both come to the conclusion that things should begin to clear later in the morning, and the move to C3 is the best plan. They also agree that it makes sense to wait a while to see how the current conditions progress, however, and Joao adds that if things don't improve he is staying put.

Tuesday, 7:50 am

The Russians at C2 poke their head in to the American tent and announce that they are leaving for C3 at 11 am.  Chris radios Joao to give him the news.  It is clear now that the Russians, Americans, and Joao are of the same mind and will likely be working on the same schedule if not more directly together.  Joao and Chris further discuss summit prospects, noting from the weather reports that Thursday and Friday are the best summit days.  Chris jokes that they and the Russians are both "orphans" so they have to move today for a Thursday bid.  The Americans spent the night in the Korean men's tent, using the Italian's and Korean women's sleeping bags and a Portuguese stove; the Russians camped in the Italian's tent.  Joao notes also that while Thursday and Friday are both good, a Saturday descent could be "snowy" and agrees Thursday would be the best choice. 

Tuesday, 8:15 am

Daniel Nardi, the leader of the Italian team, visits our base camp and conferences in with Chris and Joao to discuss his team's plan.  His team is at C1 and had intended to go to C3 today but are also sitting tight.  Plans to go to C3 are dead but they are unsure whether to go to C2 or go down.  Chris suggests that perhaps the Italians and Joao swap C2 and C3 tents for the night, as Joao's tent is standing sturdy at C2 and in better shape than the Italian's, and the Italians have one standing at C3 which would save Joao the trouble of lugging and then setting up a tent after a grueling trip.  Daniel moves to another frequency to discuss with his team, and moments later, Mario, an Italian climber at C1, joins in. After a few more moments of discussion, they all agree on the plan, and Mario thanks "his American and Portuguese friends."  Chris then adds, "Now we're all one team."

Tuesday, 9:15 am

At base camp, while checking for the weather, the computer crashes.  Over the next few hours we continue to work on it but are unsuccessful and consequently, have not received the weather forecast that virtually half of the teams on the mountain are now waiting for.

While this is going on, the rest of the teams are also circulating information as to the whereabouts of an Iranian climber and two Sherpas working with the Korean women's team.  The Iranian was last seen yesterday between C1 and C2 but is climbing alone and does not have a radio with him.  The Sherpas were to have arrived at C2 yesterday, but as of last night the Korean women had not heard from them.  Our Team had seen them arrive after 6:00 pm to find a destroyed tent, yelling into their radios trying to contact their team.  At this point there was confusion as to whether they stayed at C2 or went back to C1.

Tuesday, 11:45 am

At base camp we finally call our weather service getting a summary forecast over the phone and requesting the detailed report be sent to the Italian's email address, as they were kind enough to offer us their communication services.  The upside of the news is that the snowy, windy weather that has unexpectedly lingered is expected to stay on until the early evening; however, the rest of the week is expected to play out as previously expected.   Several minutes later Joel walks down to the Italian camp with Daniel to receive the emailed report, and they spend the next 15 minutes relaying more detailed information to their respective teams.

Tuesday, 12:30 pm

Chris radios down to BC to say that he and the team have talked things over and decided to go on a recon trip.  If things look well, they will push to C3.  Joao joins in on the radio to confirm what he's heard.  He says to be careful -- the winds are still blowing.  Chris says, "Yeah, but it's not any worse than anything we've faced so far."  Joao says he's likely to wait things out and maybe go to C4 tomorrow.

We also learn that all three climbers in question are ok.  The Italians have found the Iranian climber in Camp 1 and the Korean women's Sherpas have been spotted speaking via radio to their team farther below.

Tuesday, 4:00 pm

Sergey, a Russian team member, has stopped by our base camp tent to inquire about the team's progress.  He says the Russian team decided to stay at C2 to wait things out.  We are not sure of how long our climbers trip will take.  On a good day it should take 5-6 hours; the last time our team made this journey (in similar conditions) it took 8 hours.

Tuesday, 6:30 pm

The climbers radio to announce they have made it safely to Camp 3 and are just getting settled in their tent.  The five and a half hour trip was marked by higher winds than yesterday, getting to 60, 70 mph and more.  They said at points they were in snow up to their armpits.  For now they are concentrating on getting some fluids and will give a fuller description shortly.

Tuesday, 8:40 pm

Don calls back to debrief on the day.  He said that the winds were so strong that the climbers couldn't face west for fear of deeply freezing their faces and other exposed skin.  Despite this they made really good time, logging the trip up to 7,000 meters in about 4 hours.  Arriving then at the bottom of the slope marking the last leg up to Camp 3, the conditions began to change.  The wind died down as did the snow, except for some small spin drifts, but the snow underfoot quickly deepened from inches to feet to meters.  In fact, at one point Don stopped for a moment and he realized, as he sank to his armpits, that his feet never touched bottom.  He continued to lead the way and estimated that the final leg took over 2 hours.  As they arrived finally at 7,400 meters, the sun was just setting and the snow was falling (and was still falling during our call) so they'll wait ‘til morning to assess the way forward to C4.  For now they plan to get some rest for the big day tomorrow.