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A beautiful early spring morning in the basecamp started with only few clouds in the sky. The atmosphere in the camp was rather spirituous. For a long time the whole expedition was together having a late breakfast. Antti, Juha and Tomi had just arrived from camp3 at 7100m setting up one more step on the way to the summit. When we saw them coming we sang Sukkula Venukseen by Kikka, in perfect harmony with six voices. The music in the mess tent had changed from Mayhem to Samuli Edelman and his great album of Psalms. The feeling of togetherness was warm. The Breznevian kisses were exchanged and brotherly hugs brought the breakfast to the table.

The breakfast atmosphere was peaceful and the discussion was mainly around normal daily issues. Jussi gave a short lecture about challenges of growing his beard, Tomi told us the secrets of the glide and kick waxes for skiing and Juha let us know how the fur of the dog is kept in prime condition - Pinde and Maukka are having a good time! At the end of the breakfast Esa gave a speech, with tears in his eyes, how good place Savo is to live. Others thought this was pure regional politics, nothing else.

The theme of the day was wholesome spiritual and physical rest. The day continued with 3h of meditation that was followed by more traditional exercise. The afternoon was dedicated to the manly work - the eating of dried beef jerky. On average everyone had 300gr of it. The amount equals to approximately 1kg of sirloin steak - it is so good to be a man! Rest of the day went with Texas Hold'em. It keeps you awake when the bet is mortgaged flat in Finland...

Time to sleep. All is well.