The party took the same route as Houston and Tilman except for a minor detour at Dingla to avoid a bridge that had been swept away. After a month-long trek in the late monsoon they reached Namche Bazaar, and on 30 September Shipton and Hillary climbed sufficiently far up Pumori that they had the first good view up the Western Cwm. The Cwm sloped to a height of about , which was higher than expected, so that a climb up the Lhotse glacier to about would lead to a traverse to the South Col. This was all encouraging but the Icefall looked to be a problem. All the same, Hillary was already able to look forward to a summit attempt in 1952.