Tim Macartney-Snape

Tim Macartney-Snape (born 5 January 1956) is an Australian mountaineer and author.

The mountain's first and only ascent had been in 1958 by an elite team of Italian alpinists, as its sheer faces and rocky ridges had since thwarted many attempts.

The climb up the previously-unclimbed north west ridge proved difficult; it was one "that challenged even Macartney-Snape’s legendary strength and endurance at high altitude."

Macartney-Snape took a film movie camera on the climb, as he had done on Everest, and the subsequent film, was given the title Harder than Everest.

After a night without sleeping bags or stove at just under 8000m Child, Macartney-Snape and American Tom Hargis had finally made the coveted second ascent of Gasherbrum IV.

In 1967, the family moved to Australia to a farm in north eastern Victoria.

He attended Geelong Grammar School and spent a year at the school's outdoor education campus Timbertop.

Macartney-Snape studied at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra where he joined the ANU Mountaineering Club (ANUMC) and obtained a BSc.

Having rock-climbed all over Australia, his first mountaineering experience was two seasons in New Zealand's Southern Alps.

In 1978, Macartney-Snape travelled to India as part of the ANUMC's expedition to Dunagiri (7,066 m).

After prolonged bad weather he and Lincoln Hall radioed to the Expedition Leader, Peter Cocker, that they wanted to make another attempt on East Dunagiri.

Cocker, who was alone at the time at Col Camp on Dunagiri, invited them instead to make a final attempt on Dunagiri.

If they could force through a route to the Summit Ridge, they could then return to Col Camp and wait for support to make the summit attempt.

Maccartney-Snape and Hall agreed, returned to Dunagiri, and then pushed through to the Summit Ridge.

The weather cleared, and after they spent a clear but very cold night out without sleeping bags, Macartney-Snape and Hall made an audacious attempt for the summit of Dunagiri.

They were successful and the pair then descended through an electrical storm.

Maccartney-Snape reached Col Camp at 10.30 p.m.; however, Hall spent another night out on the mountain.

During the night, Cocker ascended the fixed ropes to meet him and accompany him back to Col Camp.

This was the first major Himalayan summit climbed by an Australian.

In 1981, Macartney-Snape climbed Ama Dablam (6812m) via the north ridge with a small lightweight team.

Macartney-Snape reportedly cited this climb as the inspiration for later climbing Everest: "partway up the North ridge of Ama Dablam he looked over and could see Mt Everest and wondered what it might be like to experience the highest point of the world via a new route in good style".

In 1983, Macartney-Snape planned and participated in an expedition to Annapurna II (7,937 m) successfully reaching the summit via the first ascent of the south spur.

The descent was delayed by a blizzard and the expedition ran out of food during the last five days.

They were reported missing and when the expedition eventually returned they received significant publicity.

On 3 October 1984 Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer were the first Australians to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

They reached the summit, climbing without supplementary oxygen, via a new route on the North Face (North Face to Norton Couloir).

In July 1984, a small Australian team headed to the north side of Mt Everest where they prepared and ascended an unclimbed route on the north face, climbing without bottled oxygen in a lightweight alpine style and without the help of high altitude porters.

On 3 October 1984, climbing in cross-country ski boots as substitutes for his high altitude climbing boots that had been lost in an earlier avalanche, Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer became the first Australians to climb Mt Everest, an achievement for which they were both awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to mountaineering.

Mt Everest historian, Walt Unsworth, described it as "one of the greatest climbs ever done on the mountain" and American climber, John Roskelley, said, "the Aussies pulled off the coup of the century".

The expedition was sponsored by Channel 9 who produced a television documentary about the expedition.

In 1986 fellow Australian Greg Child was organising an international team to attempt Gasherbrum IV (7980m).

In 1990, Macartney-Snape became the first person to walk and climb from sea level to the top of Mount Everest.

Macartney-Snape is also the co-founder of the Sea to Summit range of outdoor and adventure gear and accessories, a guide for adventure travel company World Expeditions and a founding director and patron of the World Transformation Movement.

Macartney-Snape was born in Tanganyika Territory (now Tanzania), where he lived on a farm with his Australian father and Irish mother.

In 1990, Macartney-Snape returned once again to Mt Everest with the idea of climbing the mountain from the sea to the summit.

The idea had originally been floated by adventure cameraman, Michael Dillon.

With sponsorship provided by Australian Geographic, amongst others, it would take Macartney-Snape three months to achieve this goal.

This was the first time anyone had walked from sea level and reached the top of Mt Everest, as even the first expeditions started from Kathmandu, at 1400m above sea level.

While planning the expedition, Macartney-Snape and his then wife, Dr Ann Ward, were living in Meekatharra, Western Australia where she was stationed with the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Macartney-Snape trained for the upcoming expedition with demanding runs in the 40-degree heat of the surrounding bush and short, solo climbs on the large boulders around Meekatharra.