The expedition took two years of planning and preparation

Only a handful of people have ever conquered the west ridge of the world's highest peak.

Dave Bunting and Leigh Woodhouse both from Alderwasley, near Wirksworth joined the army at the same time and are training for their climb together.

In May they will lead an attempt by the British Army to conquer Everest.

The expedition has taken two years of planning and preparation.

Third time

Leigh Woodhouse said: "We've all got ambition to climb Mount Everest, of course we have. But it doesn't matter who it is really, it's a team effort and we get people up to the top and down safely."

Expedition leader Dave Bunting said: "When we went to the Alps in the summer, when we came back from that it left us with about six months to go before we depart - and for some reason it all became real.

"You walk round the corner, and see the full magnitude of an 8,000m peak.

"You can't look and think, 'We're climbing that whole mountain - you've actually got to go that bit, then that bit and that bit' - otherwise it will faze you completely."

Two previous attempts by the armed services failed by just a few hundred metres, but Leigh Woodhouse and Dave Bunting hope that this latest expedition will prove to be third time lucky.