Winds batter Everest climbers (From York Press)

Winds batter Everest climbers

9:13am Saturday 5th May 2012 in Selby & Tadcaster

A team of injured soldiers scaling Everest was stranded at their camp as the mountain was battered by high winds.

The Walking With The Wounded group, which includes Captain David Wiseman, from Tadcaster, was forced back by 150mph gusts after trying to reach the Lhotse Face.

Large boulders were dislodged from the mountain, turning the journey treacherous. After beating a retreat to Everest’s Camp 2, the climbers were stranded for three days, surviving on their reserve food supply.

They eventually got safely back to Base Camp, having helped rescue other climbers in trouble along the way.

Expedition leader Russell Brice, who has led parties up Everest for 25 years, said he had never seen such bad conditions. “Unseasonably warm weather has made conditions on Everest a little more testing than normal,” he said. The group are acclimatising before an attempt on the summit.