Australian Paul Hockey is part of the 2005 Himalayan Experience (Himex) expedition aiming to reach the summit of Everest from the north side. Just as he was 12 months ago.
But what separates the 42-year-old from his fellow climbers on the Himex team is that he lost his right arm to cancer and, once again, is planning an assault on the world's highest mountain without the use of a prosthetic.
Cancer is a recurring theme in the Hockey family.
After losing his own arm to the disease at the age of just three weeks, Hockey has since lost his father, step-father, his aunt and, just last September, his mother.
Not surprisingly, Hockey is raising funds, just as he did last year, for the Children's Cancer Institute of Australia.
"I didn't summit last year, but still raised A$15,000 (€9,000)," he says.
"This time I want to raise A$50,000 minimum. I'll go on the guest speaking circuit and write a book, with half of the proceeds going to the institute. If I can raise more I will."
Hockey, who acts as a tour guide and Japanese translator on the Great Barrier Reef, got caught up in the climbing world at the age of 38, starting off with a mountaineering course with the New Zealand company Adventure Consultants.
"I felt a mid-life crisis coming on and wanted to do something positive, to challenge myself and raise money for the institute", he says.
The following year he successfully tackled the Argentinian peak, Aconcagua, which, at just under 7,000m, is a popular precursor to Everest for less-experienced climbers.
But success on the big one eluded him. Having reached 8,550m, just below the first step on the north side, he had to turn back.
"I was going too slow and was running out of oxygen.
"I'd spent eight weeks getting to that point and I could see the summit. It was very hard. I had frostnip on my face, I had sunburn and I lost about 12kg. I said then that I'd never come back.
"But I went home and my mum was dying of ovarian cancer and she asked me very pointedly what I intended to do. I sort of surprised myself because I said to her I'd come back and do it again, so I started fundraising and here I am again."
Hockey has since started the Never Give Up Campaign, talking to schoolchildren about taking risks, but calculated risks, setting goals and not giving up. "So I talk the talk and I walk the walk," he says.
"What's different this time is that I know what to expect. I'm going to leave high camp earlier. I'll bring an extra bottle of oxygen and Russ [ expedition leader Russell Brice] has agreed to give me a very experienced Sherpa on summit day. I think that'll crack it.
"I've trained harder and longer for this attempt. I didn't even drink a beer. I set my training parameters higher, but I don't necessarily feel much different to last year. I felt good then and I feel good now. But mentally I feel better because I was here last year.
"I'll be changing my technique. I'll be moving slower but steadier. Last year I moved reasonably quickly but kept stopping; this year I'll be going slower, ironically, but I won't stop, I'll just keep on going.
"The thing is, summiting is optional, but coming back down is mandatory. The summit's a great thing, but I wouldn't risk my life for it.
"If someone's told to turn around and they don't, I'd have nothing but contempt for them."
So how will he tackle the challenge of the new ladder on the second step, put in by the Himex Sherpas last year to replace the notorious Chinese ladder?
"Ladders aren't a problem for me" he says.
"I climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge at two o'clock one morning when there were no ladders there. Actually climbing the ladder won't be a problem, it's getting to and from it. Whatever surface you're on, even climbing with one arm, you've always got two points of contacts."
But if he doesn't make it he won't be coming back for a third crack at the mountain.
"No way - this is it", he says in his typically Australian, matter-of-fact way.
And, if he does make it to the summit, he and fellow Australian, mountain guide Duncan Chessell - who lost friend Mark Auricht on Everest in 2004 - will be throwing a boomerang, and hopefully catching it.
But it'll be Chessell, with two hands to call upon, not Hockey, doing the fielding.