Days 5 & 6: With heavy packs and in our ski boots we start the long and exhausting hike until we pick a spot for our intended camp 1 at about 17,550ft next to a few other tents. We dig a platform and set up the tent. By the time the tent is set up, it is snowing again and visibility is poor. After a good rest we start our descent back to base camp following our track in the snow. We follow the tracks in the snow back down to basecamp and eat our minimal supplies and just crawl in our sleeping bags to rest and recover. The next day we rest and plan to ascend to camp 1 to spend the night and establish camp 2 the day after.