Rawlinson finally reaches roof of the world

Former Taranaki climber Grant Rawlinson has put aside last year’s disappointment and conquered the world’s highest peak.

Mr Rawlinson reached the summit of Mt Everest, 8850 metres, on Saturday.

‘‘Just climbed Everest! The phone packed up at the summit, so I could not make a call from the top. Everyone is safe,’’ his blog site said.

‘‘I was held up a lot by the large Chinese team. Nice weather today but windy and cold on the summit. Feel good and would love a beer.’’

It took Mr Rawlinson 13 hours to climb from Camp 3, the highest campsite in the world at 8300m, to the summit and back.

It was his second attempt at reaching the roof of the world after he was forced to turn back in 2011 500m below the summit.

Mr Rawlinson spent Saturday night at Camp 3, as his team needed to regroup after the climb.

‘‘Some very tired people are coming down,’’ the 37-year-old said. ‘‘It was freezing cold last night – like being in a freezer.’’

‘‘Woke up this morning with spindrift over everything. Very strong gusts all night and this morning.’’

Yesterday Mr Rawlinson made his way from Camp 3 down to Advanced Base Camp at an altitude of 6400 metres. Today he was expecting to reach Base Camp.

The proceeds of Mr Rawlinson’s climb will be donated to the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust, which helped save his sister after a serious car crash.

Trust chairman Mark Masters said he had been following Mr Rawlinson’s progress on his blog site. ‘‘It was a fantastic effort,’’ Mr Masters said.

‘‘It was a

pretty

awesome achievement, particularly after his first attempt and the difficulties he had with altitude sickness but he proved he could cope and conquer that.’’

Mr Masters said it demonstrated what you could do if you applied your mind to it. ‘‘I guess it just comes down to determination and the will to get something done and he’s certainly done that.’’