Sir Ranulph plans to climb the north face of the mountain

After treacherous weather kept him and his team at base camp they were able to make some small progress.

But the team was forced to stop again because of winds gusting at 160mph. Despite his background, the adventurer is not an experienced mountaineer.

Speaking from 21,000 ft via video phone, Sir Ranulph told BBC Breakfast: "It is a good idea not to look down."

The explorer and hits team plan to make a last-ditch bid to conquer the world's highest mountain on Friday.

"There won't be another chance to make an attempt on the summit - this is their last shot Tom Briggs

The Jagged Globe team are taking the more hazardous North Ridge route to the 8,850m (29,035ft) summit, which means spending longer in the danger zone above 8,000m.

Spokesman Tom Briggs said: "There's been high winds. Last night some of the tents had poles snapped in awful conditions.

"An experienced member of the team said it was the worst night he had ever spent in a tent."

Mr Briggs said they hoped to set off from Camp 4 for the peak at 1800 BST on Friday and should arrive in the early hours of Saturday morning.

"There won't be another chance to make an attempt on the summit - this is their last shot." Sir Ranulph hopes to raise �2m for the British Heart Foundation charity.

He has spent the past year preparing by scaling mountains around the globe.

The money he raises will help buy equipment for research into children with heart disease.

The funds will go to a specific unit in the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, focusing on the growing amount of heart disease in six and seven-year-olds.

Sir Ranulph had a heart attack in 2003 followed by bypass surgery, but months later broke records by completing seven marathons on seven continents in seven days.