Fiennes and Crane Miss Everest Summit

Rob / 07.06.2005

Sir Ranulph Fiennesâ€™ attempt to reach the summit of Everest ended over the weekend, when he was forced to turn back an hour into the final summit attempt.

After leaving the last camp at 27,560 feet the 60 year old adventurer set off confidently for the summit, but turned back feeling he was pushing too hard. Some reports refer to him being affected by the bronchitis he has suffered from since before the expedition set off, others to concern about his heart rate. After receiving emergency heart bypass surgery in 2003 he has had to monitor his condition on the climb very carefully.

The expedition, run by Jagged Globe, was a success despite very poor weather conditions on Everest this year, with 7 out of 11 climbers reaching the summit, but Fiennes had to make the hard decision to turn back. It was a decisoin made harder by the fact he is using the expedition to raise Â£2m for the British Heart Foundation.

Another well known adventure racer, Adrian Crane was also on the North Ridge, this Spring, but he too had to turn back. He reached 25,000 feet then due to weather and time, he decided he could not stay any longer as it might be a week or two before the weather improved. Typically, he was planning to cycle down from Base Camp to Kathmandu

Although a disappointing outcome for the two climbers, both are safely down off the mountain, and there was a tragic reminder of how dangerous it is, when British climber, Dr Rob Milne died of a massive heart attack 1200 feet below the summit at the weekend. Crane has returned to California, where he organises several races, and Fiennes will be trying to regain his strength and fitness before this year\'s KIMM.