Climber Stephen Venables, the first Briton to reach the summit of Mount Everest without using bottled oxygen, is marking the 25th anniversary of his record-breaking ascent by publishing a diary of his landmark climb on Twitter.
Venables narrowly escaped death several times on his way to the summit, and he was the only member of the four-man team to reach the summit of the world’s highest mountain.
As well as conquering Everest by a completely new route and without additional oxygen, Venables set a record for the highest-ever solo bivouac” spending a night alone on the mountain at more than 28,000 feet.
Now Venables will relive the historic ‘Neverest’ ascent through Twitter, tweeting his thoughts and the expedition story over the next 44 days” the same length of time it took from reaching base camp to finally reach the top of the world.
Venables explained: “Technological advancements mean climbers can now tweet messages from Everest, but in 1988 we didn’t have that contact with the outside world.
“The sense of achievement in reaching the summit was huge, but there were many occasions when I thought I wouldn’t survive, let alone reach the summit. Publishing this diary on Twitter will allow me to share those experiences and emotions with anyone who shares that fascination with Everest.â€
The @Neverest88 diary will end 24 hours prior to an anniversary reunion between Venables and the rest of the climbing team. The four are gathering at the Royal Geographical Society in London on 14 March for a special charity event in aid of brain tumour charity brainstrust.
Event details are available from www.brainstrust.org.uk/
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