12:30am go time - as no one had sleapt and we were all freezing cold everyone jumped out of bed ready for the final summit. I was feeling truly pumped and full of energy (thank god) we packed our things, got into all our snow and ice climbing equipment and had a basic breakfast of bread and jam and hot coco - I new the trick for me would be to drink and eat a lot today throughout the hike to maintain my energy levels. At 1:30am it was go time, I was paired with the other Australian guy Callum which I was a little worried about as he was not only sick but complained a lot and as I was attached to him in a 3 man line - my life was in his hands. Luckily our guide had a spare headlamp for me (or the one that I had apparently lost) and lent it to me saying I could pay for the lost one later. Our guide was at the front, I was in the middle and Callum was at the back - having about 2.5m of rope between each of us; the idea being if someone falls down a crevass or off the edge the other two can hopefully save them. Off we went and this is where our difficulties started; 10 minutes in Callum would keep stopping, falling to the ground and whining of pain - this would continue for the next 10 hours. At first I felt great, full of energy and enjoying every step (in the dark) it was nice not being able to see what was ahead off. After about an hour we stopped along with the rest of our group and I was changed to last position in our line so we could literally carry Callum up the mountain. Callum continued his moaning and at points he would literally call for his Mum then abuse myself and our guide for not helping him, it made us both nervous as his behavior became erratic and with 200 meter sheer drops either side of us it's not the place to be attached to someone so unstable. I can say the climb was the hardest I have ever done but being attached to a crazy person made it twice as difficult. We walked over crevasses through canyons and ever step was an uncertainty. At about 4 hours in, the air became thin and the wind and snow made visibility very low, breathing became hard and we were faced with very difficult ice walls. Ice walls require a much more difficult technique and completely tax your energy levels. We stopped every 30 minutes or so and every stop I would make sure to drink water and eat a few banana chips, sultanas and nuts. We eventually arrived near the summit and this is where things got really difficult and dangerous - once again we used our axes to scale across a ridge no more then a foot wide (on the other side a 200m sheer drop). At this point Callum completely lost his mind (common sign of altitude sickness) and started abusing everyone, slipping and basically putting all our life's in danger. At one point we had the next group of 7 climbers behind us getting very angry at Callums antics and yelling abuse which made things even worse. Myself and the guide tried to calm him and drag him up the ridge and after an hour we made it - ready to kick his arse for putting all our lives in danger (the guide warned him unless he stopped being a baby we would leave him). Arriving at the summit was a true moment of elation and I high fived my French friends and with big smiles all around I screamed at the top of my lungs - Hell Yeah. The conditions were bad and we could barely see anything but that didn't take away from the moment - to be honest I was just happy to be alive. We were only allowed ten minutes on the top of the mountain as it was literaly only 3 meters wide and there were many other climbers behind us waiting for their turn. We took some bad photos as it was crammed and I had lost all feeling in my fingers, we then prepared for the way down- just as we started the climb down the sky's cleared for 5 minutes and we had a magical view of the Cordibella range even getting a glimpse of Lake Titicaca in the distance. The climb down proved even more difficult and Callums behavior got worse - I was given the job of guide in the hope that he might listen to me (our original guide had given up). The guides had told me I was a natural at mountain climbing and one of the best no-experienced ice climbers they had ever seen and so allowed me to be lead climber on the way down. This was both exciting and dangerous as every step I took put mine and everyone else's life's in dangers. About 20 minutes down Callum collapsed and slid of the side of the mountain - I jammed my axe into the glacier and held on for all our dear life's, the guide at the back did the same and we were able to stop a disaster. The rest of the way down was incredibly difficult and dangerous and to go with that we had a grown man crying attached to us that was mentally unstable and falling over every 5 minutes. I slipped a few times but was able to axe in and save myself sliding further, I realized at this point how dangerous the situation was and I had actually put all my trust and life in other people's hands. I spent the 4 hour climb down in pure concentration of the task at hand and getting off the mountain alive and thus found it very difficult to enjoy the scenery. We made it to the refuge after 4 hours and the first thing I did was detach my line from Callum and tell him he was on his own from hear on out - he started apologizing and crying but it was too late this fool had nearly cost me my life. We drank some warm tea had a bite to eat and then prepared for the climb back to base camp - the guide had wanted me to wait for him and the crazy Callum but I new it was safer for me to climb down alone. The climb down was difficult specially with a 15kg pack but luckily only half of it was snow covered and conditions cleared up. Arriving back at base camp I felt awsome and myself and the French guys celebrated the achievement. We ran into the other 6 Boliviano climbers that stayed in our refuge and none of them had made the summit or even got close - we felt even more of an achievement. We ate some warm chicken soup before taking the two hour van ride back to La Paz. We dropped our equipment off at the service depot and I looked for my lost light which was no where to be found, they kept telling me I needed to pay about $20 for the headlamp I had apparently lost, some quick thinking had me empty my wallet except for $6 which I agreed to give them for loosing the headlamp. Although it was obviously a scam with the headlamp I was just happy to pay the $6 and be done with it. I made my way back to San Miguel and my hosts place and was almost ready to pass out after a huge last two days. Nyrzha arrived back at about 5pm and we chatted about our adventures before my eyes could not stay open anymore and I had to pass out.