AUSSIE ADVENTURER CONQUERS EVEREST,ALL 8,840 M OF IT
Australian mountaineer Tim Macartney-Snape became the first person to climb the entire 8,840 metres from sea level of Mount Everest.
Climbing solo and without oxygen,the 34-year-old took more than 12 hours to climb the final 800 metres to the peak where he radioed base camp,where his wife,Dr Ann Ward,received the call.
Tim Macartney-Snape arrives in Sydney after he successfully climbed Mt. Everest solo after starting from below sea level. A world first. June 1,1990.Steven Siewert
The man who led Australia's first successful ascent of Everest in 1984 began his sea-to-summit expedition on February 5,when he waded from the Bay of Bengal. He then completed a gruelling 1,000-kilometre walk across the Indian plains to the foothills of the Himalayas.
Last night his mother,Mrs Bobbie Macartney-Snape,said she was elated."It's wonderful knowing that he's on his way down,"she said.
Her son,she said,had always had a love of mountains."He always had a lust for climbing and even as a child would do incredibly dangerous and stupid things,"she said.
"I know he's physically and mentally equipped to do the climb but naturally I worry.
"I think now though,it's not so much a question of conquering the mountain for him as feeling grateful that the mountain allows him to get to the summit."
Tim Macartney-Snape (34) climbing on the Khumbu Icefall on Mt. Everest. April 1,1990.Pip Smith
Last Tuesday,after five weeks of acclimatisation,Mr Macartney-Snape left base camp and over two days climbed through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall to his final camp on the South Col of the mountain. After resting for a day,he set off 1am yesterday and began the long climb up the South Ridge on to the main summit.
He reached the summit at 2pm.
Since Mt Everest was conquered in 1953,more than 200 people have climbed it,but most have begun their ascent at 3,650 m on the south side or 4,550 m on the north side. Mr Macartney-Snape's sea-to-summit expedition marks the first time a climber has begun the ascent from sea level,where the mountain technically begins.
Before he left,he said that Mt Everest remained the greatest challenge for mountaineers."There are many smaller,much harder peaks,"he said,"but Everest is the highest and only on its summit can climbers say they are truly on top of the world."
Mrs Macartney-Snape said she believed her son's wife was also very brave."She's been waiting there at the base camp for him. I think that after this,seeing he's married and has responsibilities,he will stay with rock climbing."
Mr Macartney-Snape's second Everest climb was sponsored by Australian Geographic. The editor,Mr Howard Whelan,said last night it was"extraordinary that someone from the flattest continent on earth achieved this feat".
Mr Whelan,who accompanied Mr Macartney-Snape on his 1984 expedition,said that the climber had trained for the solo climb in the deserts of Western Australia,where his wife,Dr Ward,works with the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
"He was superbly fit from running and rock climbing,"he said."I think he felt that unless he did it without oxygen there would be very little challenge left."
Mr Macartney-Snape was resting at the South Col last night before beginning his descent at noon today.