Sir Ranulph Fiennes describes Everest joy
- 00:01:11
- ITN
Sir Ranulph Fiennes describes Everest joy
Sir Ranulph Fiennes has said he conquered Everest on his third attempt despite his fear of heights. The veteran explorer finally achieved his dream last week at the age of 65 in a bid to raise £3 million for cancer charity Marie Curie. And in his first comments since returning from the Himalayan peak he said: "I get vertigo, and don't like looking down." "But if you are there, you might as well look once. "When I actually got to the top, the emotional side of getting there was, to some extent, blurred by amazement at what we could see. "Way down below, you could see the top of all the frilly clouds, and here, there and everywhere you've got mountain tops poking through. To use a cliche, it's just like fairyland." Sir Ranulph's success made him the first explorer in history to reach the world's highest peak as well as the North and South Poles. Sir Ranulph, who has already raised millions for Marie Curie Cancer Care, lost his first wife, sister and mother to cancer within an 18-month period. He is now less than £400,000 short of his £3 million fundraising target and asked the public to help him reach that goal.
ITN | May 26, 2009
