Hello again from Everest Base Camp, it's 2:30am and I'm having to hunt and peck with colder fingers - colder? Aha! that usually means clearing instead of clouds. And sure enough, I just stuck my head out of the tent and there is beautiful moonlight on the West Ridge of Everest. Pumori and down the valley still have clouds, but there are actually a few stars coming out, and the clouds are ringed with moonlight.

I'm still awake and sitting by the radio, but things have been pretty quiet here at Base Camp. Bryce is taking the first sleeping shift. I'll probably wake him up about 3:30 or 4:00 to take my turn. And Ben, our visiting journalist, is attempting to sleep with his sleeping bag stretched out on three of our folding chairs. He doesn't look too comfortable to me. I told him to grab some sleeping pads out of the dining tent, but he says, 'oh no, this is fine.' And Ong Chhu is thoroughly ensconsed in a card game with some Sherpas from a neighboring camp. I accused him of losing, but he just laughed.

As I started writing the radio came to life with Willi reporting in from the Balcony. He says that the first contingent of himself, Joe, Cleve, Chewang, Mingma, and Ang Passang have arrived, with the rest of the group close behind them. He says all are moving well and feeling good. They were taking a short break but it's too cold to hang around for long so they will keep moving very soon. Willi was also looking for a flat spot to change to a new bottle of oxygen after his first bottle ran out. So listen for Willi's audio report from the Balcony in addition to this written dispatch.

So with shivering fingers, that's all from Base Camp.

— Ellie Henke, Alpine Ascents International Base Camp Manager and MountainZone.com Correspondents

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