Hatter is first Briton to conquer Everest both ways
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Your support makes all the difference.GRAHAM RATCLIFFE has stepped on to the summit of Mount Everest and into the record books, becoming the first Briton to scale the world's highest mountain from its north and south sides.
Problems with satellite communications meant his family were still waiting yesterday for a call to confirm that he was safe and well. However, the Nepalese tourist board has confirmed he reached the summit from the south side on Wednesday. It follows his reaching the summit by the north side in 1995.
It will be a huge relief to his wife, Catherine, and daughters Amy, 18, and Angela, 21. Mr Ratcliffe, 44, who runs a hat-making business with his wife, has twice been prevented from completing his assault on the summit from the south face.
In 1996 he was on the mountain during a storm which killed more than a dozen fellow climbers, and last year he was halted by a virus. He is expected to be back at base camp and in contact today.
While more than 1,000 climbers have reached the summit of the 29,029ft mountain since 1953, roughly one in seven of those who tackle the summit die in the attempt. Earlier this week climbers found the body of the mountaineer George Mallory, who died near the summit in 1924. There are more than 130 bodies on the mountain many above 8,000 metres, the so-called "death zone".
Yesterday Mrs Ratcliffe said: "I have lost count of the times he has been on the mountain now, but every time I worry about him."
Mr Ratcliffe, from Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, who left Britain in March, reached the summit shortly after midday on Wednesday having set off on the final push to the top of the mountain the previous night.
Despite the amount of time he devotes to mountaineering, he insists he is an amateur and celebrated his 44th birthday in the discomfort of Everest's base camp on 1 April. He has to raise the "peak fee", costing thousands of pounds for anyone venturing above base camp, from his own pocket and any sponsorship he can arrange.
He caught the mountaineering bug ten years ago when he tackled Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro. Since then he has repeatedly gone on expeditions to Everest and other mountains - though the highest mountain in the world holds a particular fascination for him. He first reached the "roof of the world" in 1995 by the north side, after a failed attempt in 1993. The north side is generally thought to be a more challenging route than the southern approach.
Like many climbers he remains unable to explain what drives him. "What is it exactly that makes you want to go through all the cold and pain to get to the top?" he was asked by one e-mail correspondent. He replied, "I haven't got time to answer that! It's a challenge - like sky diving, or running a marathon - it's a challenge."
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