The Friday Matinee

It's Friday, the clock's ticking and weekend's coming in a June sort of way, which can mean only one thing, time for the Friday matinee and a bit of slacking...

After last week's slack-lining special we thought we'd do something more mountaineery this week with an Everest slant and, in particular, clips from this spring's Ranulph Fiennes Everest Challenge expedition to the mountain.

There are actually 37 of the team's videos on YouTube, all with a high quality option as well. Definitely worth a browse if you're at a loose end. Anyway, here are a few examples with some great footage from the mountain...

Rannulph Fiennes talks about the Khumbu icefall, the monstrous jumble of moving ice that sits above base camp and bars the way to the mountain.

HIgher up, this footage from the climb up to Camp 2 gives some idea of just how big the mountain is.

Kenton Cool, Fiennes' guide and a multiple Everest summiteer descibes the route to the summit...

Moving up, Cool and Fiennes making their way up from Camp 3 via the Lhotse Face, one big lump of snow and ice with real atmosphere.

Fiennes heading for Camp 4 on his unsuccessful summit push... listen to that breathing.

There's lots more from the expedition on YouTube with some