It was a cold night, but that was good, it turns out. I awoke at midnight to clearing skies, and the first look at the East Ridge. In the darkness all I could see was the rock; I could not differentiate between the sky and the snow summit ridge. The next morning we got to see it, complete with a massive crack in its lower third where the Inspiration Glacier breaks away from the final summit ridge.

We slept until 4:45am, then ate a quick, cold breakfast of bagel and roast beef, Balance bars and GU and drank a little water. We had a visit paid by a gigantic, very persistent glacier rat, who only scampered away after I... well... let's just say I'd been able to get some water in me and my aim was true. We put a layer in our packs, threw everything else in on top of that, cleared the ledge and scrambled back down to the glacier where we dumped our bivy sacks, bags, and anything we weren't taking to the top.