Progress had been so good that Bonington saw an opportunity to have three parties attempt the summit on successive days and he announced his selections on 21 September. The first would be Scott and Haston (as had been widely expected); the second would be Burke, Boardman, Boysen and Pertemba; and the third Braithwaite, Estcourt, Ang Phurba and Bonington himself. Bonington had previously promised Estcourt and Braithwaite they would be in any second party but he decided they might be weak right after their Rock Band exertions so he told them to return briefly to Camp 2 and then return to join the third party. They accepted this with good grace. Pertemba had been told he could select a sherpa for each of the two later attempts. Burke had been climbing slowly but Bonington considered that this could have been due to the weight of camera equipment and he realised the value of having filming high up on the mountain. MacInnes would have been a strong contender but Bonington was beginning to favour a younger person (Boardman) and MacInnes had still not recovered from the avalanche. MacInnes, upset, said he would leave the expedition but he would tell the press it was solely due to his health. Privately Clarke, the team doctor, advised Bonington that he should not include himself in the summit attempts since that would mean he would be above for far too long. Reluctantly Bonington accepted this and gave his place to Richards.
