Wife off to bring Everest climber home

Mark Inglis on Mt Everest with a snapped limb which he had to repair before making the summit.

Anne Inglis is about to catch up with her Everest-conquering husband and whisk him straight out of Nepal.

She has not seen Mark Inglis since he embarked on his historic mission on March 25 and is even unsure what her first words will be.

"I have no idea what I will say. It depends on what he looks like," Mrs Inglis said yesterday, just before leaving Auckland.

Mark Inglis' achievement in becoming the first double amputee to scale the world's highest peak has taken its toll.

She has been told her husband's leg stumps were giving him trouble and that he should come straight home. Earlier she had expressed the hope he might be able to stop over at a tropical island resort for a bit of rest and relaxation before returning on June 4.

But now she expects to collect her husband from Kathmandu, the Nepalese capital, in the next few days.

"We will just meet, and pretty much get on the plane."

Medical attention would probably be a priority as "the legs aren't great, they need repair."

Mr Inglis was yesterday believed to be en-route by four-wheel-drive from Everest base camp to Lhasa, where he would catch a flight to Kathmandu.

He got to the base camp on Thursday, after an eight-hour journey down from an Everest advance camp on a yak.

He took two pairs of artificial legs on the expedition, and spare parts, but "they knew things would break", Anne Inglis said.

He and fellow climber Phil Doole both lost their legs below the knee after spending two weeks in a Mt Cook ice cave during a 1982 blizzard.

The Hanmer Springs couple are expected to arrive in Christchurch next Wednesday.

"It is probably better for him to be in New Zealand in case he needs any treatment but we hope that time will be the only healing needed," Mrs Inglis said.

Three more New Zealanders got to the summit of Everest this week.

Professional climbers Guy Cotter 43, of Wanaka, and Dean Staples 42, of Queenstown, were among a 14-strong Adventure Consultants team to make the 8848m summit at 5.15pm on Thursday (NZ time) after an 11 1/2 climb along the south route from a 7900m high camp. The team also included Christchurch engineer Steve Harvey 44, who was on his first attempt.

May is summit season at Mt Everest.

Staples' achievement makes him the first New Zealander to climb to the summit of Mt Everest from both the south and north routes.

- additional reporting NZPA