The first complete ascent of Everest. No-one had ever really climbed Mt Everest. Only by starting at sea level could a mountaineer claim to have climbed all 8874 metres of the world’s highest peak. This was the logic behind Australian Tim Macartney-Snape’s Sea to Summit expedition. 

On 5 February 1990, Tim set out from the Bay of Bengal with his wife, Dr Ann Ward, and a back-up team and headed for the roof of the world. He would have to walk 1000km through north-east India, Nepal and the Himalayan foothills to Base Camp, and then he would have to climb to Everest’s summit.