At 8320m on K2 I had a decision to make. I had been climbing without oxygen from 7350m and I was cooked. I knew that it would take me around 6-8 hours to reach the summit at the pace I was going. That meant summiting at 4pm to 6pm which was dangerously late. The summit is only half way. I made the decision to use the spare bottle of oxygen Mikel was carrying to safely summit and return to camp. I could have chosen to just turn around and not use oxygen at all. I was disappointed to not achieve my goal of a no o2 summit. However I don’t regret the choice I made. I now know the rest of the route to the top for next time. Mikel added another K2 summit to his resume! We had an awesome view and we got to celebrate the summit together. Oh and we got fireworks when we arrived back at Base Camp! ~ AP

Today is the 71st International Sagamatha Day. 71 years since Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary first stood on the summit of Mt Everest. Sagamatha is the Nepali name for Everest. 🏔️ Today I truly learned how important, treasured and loved Sagamatha is to the people of Nepal. I was honored to be a part of the celebrations. To be amongst the energy of the procession was very emotional for me. Sagamatha provides the livelihood for thousands of Nepali people. The mountain is the pride of Nepal, the nation’s treasure. I was blessed to have been awarded a badge by the prime minister Honourable Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’. Many of my Nepali friends also won awards. Such a special day. 🥹💕🏔️ A huge thank you to Shiva Sapkota for inviting me. 🎵 Nepal 🇳🇵 national anthem 🙏🏾