Sir Ranulph tackles Everest again

Sir Ranulph, 64, suffered a heart attack during his first attempt

The adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes is to make a second attempt to climb Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain.

Sir Ranulph, 64, of Somerset, suffered a heart attack during his first, unsuccessful, attempt in 2005.

If he reaches the summit, the explorer will be the first man ever to cross both ice-caps via both poles and to scale the world's highest peak.

The expedition hopes to raise �3m for Marie Curie Cancer Care's Delivering Choice Programme.

Accompanied by expedition guide Kenton Cool and medic Robert Casserley, Sir Ranulph will take the South Col route from Nepal, first climbed in 1953 by Sir Edmond Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

Sir Ranulph said: "I was moved to support Marie Curie Cancer Care after I lost my mother, wife and two sisters, the latter three to cancer, all within an 18-month period.

"I stopped doing polar expeditions when they had all been basically done.

"There are, unfortunately, only two poles and this number was not going to increase in the near future so we had to switch to different sorts of expeditions".

If he succeeds Sir Ranulph will be only the second Briton over 60 to reach the summit.

The team aims to reach the summit between May 15 and 25.

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