The early morning sun shines on Lobsang Spire (5707m) from Khoburtse. Lobsang Spire was first climbed on June 13, 1983 alpine style by Doug Scott, Greg Child, and Pete Thexton. ‘It’s featureless up there. Impossible,’ says Doug. Out comes the drill. For two hours I hammer away on the fifteenth pitch, interspersing rivets with sequences of skyhooks balanced on tiny edges, in order that our ten rivets might last the 100 ft to the summit. When I step onto the final skyhook placed on the lip of the knife-edged summit I grab a handful of snow and sprinkle it onto Pete And Doug below. ‘A present from the summit,’ I shout.’ - Thin Air: Encounters in the Himalayas by Greg Child.