Post Script: Ankita gets her shot.

Ankita's condition improved quickly in the oxygen-rich lower elevation of Azau. As there had been a spare summit day built in for bad weather, Ankita reasoned it was still possible for her to make a summit attempt. She would need to leave for high camp the day after the rest of us had arrived back at Oz. That same day she would need to make the acclimatization climb from high camp to 15,000 feet, and then leave for the summit that night, skipping the day of rest that would normally separate the two. Ankita approached Mike with this idea. He would guide her, and in the process summit Elbrus for the second time in three days. This was an ambitious plan for both of them. After careful consideration, and verifying Ankita's improved health, Mike agreed. They left immediately, joined by Paul who came along as moral support. Word spread among the other climbing teams around Azau. A well-liked person, there was great empathy for Ankita and her lost summit attempt. But now a slow drum beat of possibility began as climbers sought out updates on the status of Mike and Ankita high up on Elbrus. We passed the time in the eager hours that followed speculating on how things were going. Some of us saw Ankita's troubled foot as being the principle concern. Others questioned how completely her strength may have returned. Still others fretted over her abbreviated acclamation. Ankita and Mike started for the summit at 2:50 a.m. We were at breakfast when Mike called Alex on the satellite phone. He and Ankita were standing on the summit! Even more impressive, they had gotten there in only six and a half hours, a full two hours faster than our first team. Later, I asked Ankita what made her think she could do it with all the strikes against her. Her answer spoke first to the confidence she felt in Mike, and secondly to the desire that had set all these wheels in motion so many months ago. "I had to try."