 The climbers approaching the bottleneck start from a shoulder, on almost level ground just below 8,000 metres, where typically the highest camp is located.The bottom end of the couloir drops to the south face of the mountain, and it gradually steepens to 60 degrees just below the ice field.It is not possible to climb up the icefield, which rises straight up tens of metres, but one has to traverse leftwards at the bottom of the icefield 100 metres until it is possible to pass the icefield.