The climbers left base camp on Wednesday and have been working since from Camp 1 to establish Camp 2. Yesterday, Chris Stensland and I followed them as far as ABC and spent last night there to track progress and capture footage of this morning's activities. I'm guessing the section of snowfield they are ascending from ABC to the Black Pyramid must span some 4,500 feet. It's quite simply the largest, steepest continuous mountain snow face I've ever seen, strewn down the center with steaks and remnants of recent avalanches. When they get to the top of that - they still have at least another 5,500 feet to go to get to the summit.

As far as today's developments, Bruce led a stellar pitch of 650 feet, but despite the progress the team was unable to find a suitable place to set a tent to establish Camp 2. The average angle of the slope they are working on is about 50 degrees. There is good rock coverage but the climbers get increasingly exposed when the wind picks up. This was evidenced during the day, when while advancing, Don was hit by a small avalanche. He is fine; the snow stopped shortly below his abdomen and, as of this writing, none of his equipment sustained any injury. By the end of the day they had moved their high mark to almost 22,000 feet. Tomorrow, the plan is to run the rope out to the bottom of the Black Pyramid. While most of you have the day off from work - with out a place yet set for Camp 2 - the climber's morning's commute will be at least four hours to the top of the fixed lines before their real work begins

Of course, we will keep you posted on their progress. Stay tuned for some amazing new footage and dispatches in the coming days.

Joel Shalowitz