The Irish Everest expedition led by Corkman Pat Falvey aims to make an attempt on the summit of the world's highest peak tonight, writes Grania Willis Everest Base Camp
Four climbers in Mr Falvey's group were due to leave the 24,000 foot/7,000 metre Camp Three on Everest's southern flanks early this morning, weather permitting.
They suffered a blow yesterday with the departure of a second team member when Dr Clare O'Leary had to return to Base Camp after being laid low by a stomach bug at Camp Two.
The 32-year-old from Bandon, who is a gastroenterologist at Cork University Hospital, had been vomiting for the past two days, but had felt better on Sunday night and departed with the rest of the Irish expedition for Camp Three yesterday morning.
"But I just wasn't strong enough to go on," a devastated Dr O'Leary said at Base Camp yesterday afternoon, having returned with D'Orje Sherpa.
She arrived back at lunchtime, just 10 minutes before her sister Carol arrived after an eight-day trek from Lukla in the hope of being on site when Dr O'Leary and co-team member Hannah Shields fulfilled their dream of being the first Irish women to reach the summit of Everest.
"I couldn't eat or drink anything and I just wasn't strong enough. I did a couple of hours and Pat [team leader Pat Falvey] and D'Orje were with me, but I knew I couldn't do it," Dr O'Leary said.
The Irish expedition had already been reduced by one just over a fortnight ago when Corkman George Shorten had to be airlifted from Base Camp after suffering life-threatening cerebral oedema when descending from Camp Three.
With the loss of Dr O'Leary, the Irish team is now down to just four - team leader Pat Falvey, deputy Mick Murphy, Ger O'Donnell and Hannah Shields.
Mr Falvey said yesterday: "We have a three-day weather window, and so we will go for it if the conditions are right."
The expedition leader reported back to Base Camp last night: "We'll be leaving at about 4 or 5 a.m. for Camp Four and we should be there at about 12. We'll rest there for six or seven hours [on oxygen] and then go at about nine o'clock [3.30 p.m. today Irish time] and go straight through to the summit."
A total of 25 teams are attempting to scale the mountain at the moment to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first conquest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgey Sherpa on May 29th, 1953. After weeks of waiting for the weather to clear, teams began moving up the mountain from Sunday in anticipation of good conditions later in the week.
Additional reporting by Lorna Siggins