Fiennes Halfway Up Eiger

Sir Rannulph Fiennes is somewhere around the halfway point on the North Face of the Eiger according to ITV news which is covering the expedition.

Fiennes, 62, who suffers from vertigo, is tackling one of the most dangerous routes in the world in aid of Mari Curie Cancer Care in the company of top climber and guide Kenton Cool and climber / photographer Ian Parnell.

ITV News has been carrying reports and video footage from the mountain on its web site and on TV including helicopter coverage of the team on the route.

As of yesterday - the latest report available on the web the team was moving relatively slowly, but approaching the icefields at the halfway point of the route.

Fiennes is handicapped by the loss of half the fingers on one hand due to polar frost bite, a problem exacerbated by him dropping a mitt overnight, which means he's unable to use some rock holds effectively.

The team were scheduled to spend last night at Death Bivouac.

You can find the lastest news on Fiennes' progress at www.itv.com/news complete with video, links to a donation site and ITV reporter Philip Reay-Smith's slightly hopeless 'blog' from the scene...

"He was slipping all over the rock and having problems with his ice axe because overnight he had lost the left mitten which covers the fingertips and has led to frostbite which is particularly painful in the cold." So there you go.