23rd July – SUMMIT SUCCESS – ‘We´ve just arrived back from a very cold and snowy Illimani. The day we arrived at Illimani Base Camp the clouds had grown dark and menacing with the tops hidden from view. At 6.30pm that night the wind really picked up threatening to blow down many of the tents at base camp, it started to snow, which was a big surprise to all. The weather didn´t relent until around 6.30am the following morning when we awoke to a white vista across the base camp plain. We soon discovered that the 40 or so climbers at high camp had all abandoned their summit attempt and were heading down.