The decided to go for it, in superhuman style, and climb direct from basecamp to camp 3 in one push. Where did that leave us? Sh*t out of luck!

Rather than watch the entire project come to an abrupt end, PK and I went all in, knowing we were not acclimatized and knowing we had no chance of ever coming close to keeping up with them.

We loaded ourselves up like mules and left at 8pm. Jalal and Fazel helped carry some of our gear for us including oxygen.

I never imagined that the first steps I would take on this magnificent mountain would be in the pitch dark. What we were doing was impossible, but we did it anyway and gave it our all.

Both of us suffered immensely that night, each carrying two bottles of oxygen, personal gear + camera gear. We just pushed through the pain all night long.
.
We climbed for over 24 hrs straight and reached a point where we decided to pack it in.

We spent a brutal night in a tent like sardines in a can. I couldn’t help but laugh at the image of 4 men piled into a small tent. The next morning, we assumed John, Ali and Sajid had made the summit. For us, it was over, but we felt good having made the effort.

This is the face of giving it all you have. We preferred to have tried, knowing we had no chance, than to have wondered ‘what if’.

This was several days ago. And team Iceland/Pakistan never made it.