The 14th April 2018: Sophie Lavaud reached base camp, situated at 5’500 m, which is already higher than Mont-Blanc (4’809 m)

At each stage the memories of last year come flooding back but this is another new adventure - the team is different, the weather is different.

I started by losing my voice early on. After two days Naoko, our nurse from Japan, gave me some medication that stopped all this very quickly. This allowed me to reach the next stage, Cheban in Tortong, in good condition.

Here, the weather is often cool and rainy. The few rays of morning sun are quickly replaced by fog and rain.

The team is made up of 13 expedition members from 13 different countries: Nepal, Russia, Macedonia, Germany, Iran, Hungary, Italy, Ireland, Singapore, USA, Israel, Japan ... and me. Not all of us are here yet but it will be a nice cultural mix!

Sophie