THIS WEEK IN 1988: End to marine's Everest glory bid

By The Newsroom
Published 23rd May 2018, 07:00 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 08:28 BST
jpns 190518 retro Everest - The impressive but daunting North Face of Everest - the challenge Major Nicholls and his team facedjpns 190518 retro Everest - The impressive but daunting North Face of Everest - the challenge Major Nicholls and his team faced
jpns 190518 retro Everest - The impressive but daunting North Face of Everest - the challenge Major Nicholls and his team faced

As news of the disappointment reached Major David Nicholls’ wife, Deidre, at the family’s Eastney Terrace home, she said her husband had been beaten by a worthy opponent.

A freak storm beat back the two-man team of Maj Nicholls and Senior Aircraftman Al McLeod less than 1,000 feet from the summit.

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They decided to give up their bid otherwise lives would have been put at risk.

Major John Fitzgerald, at the expedition’s Aldershot headquarters, said there was no doubt the men would have reached the top had it not been for the unpredicted storm.