Explorer makes Everest base camp

Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain

Adventurer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has reached base camp in his second attempt to climb Mount Everest.

Sir Ranulph, 64, of Somerset, suffered an angina 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.

Base camp stands at the foot of the mountain on its southern side, deep in the Himalayas.

It is at a height of 5,600m metres (18,370ft) and was used in the 1953 expedition by Sir Edmund Hillary.

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.

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