Now it is May 21 up at Camp VI. Bishop and Jersted have moved from Base Camp and are in position to make their own attempt at reaching the summit. This will be their only chance; they are running out of time. They need to be moving down the mountain before the weather changes, and the dangerous high winds of the jet stream return.

In addition to Bishop and Jersted, the team leader had given the okay for two other climbers, Willi Unsoeld and Tom Hornbein, to try to reach the summit from the West Ridge. This is a route no one has ever tried. The four men hope to meet at the top of the mountain, each pair coming from a different side.