After months of training, a Tipperary man attempting to climb Mount Everest without oxygen has had to cancel due to high winds.
39 year old James McManus from Roscrea recently said he was likely only to get one shot at it as the Everest climbing season comes to a close at the end of the month.
To date just 216 climbers have reached the top of the mountain without the use of supplementary oxygen.
If successful, James would have been the first Irish person to complete the mammoth task.
Taking to social media, James shared this update.
"Unfortunately, because of consistently high winds between now and the end of the season, we are not going to get a chance to attempt the summit, which is really disappointing.
"These things happen and there is nothing we can really do about it.
"It was always one of those things that could effect the expedition was the weather.
"Trying to climb Everest without oxygen you need perfect conditions and conditions are not perfect, the winds are really really high and we had to make a call on it."
The main climbing season on Mount Everest is April and May each year.
Most expeditions to Everest take around two months.
Climbers start arriving at the mountain's base camps in late March.
On the more popular south side, base camp is at around 5,300 metres and sits at the foot of the icefall, the first major obstacle.
According to experts, the climate of Everest is always hostile to living things.
The warmest average daytime temperature in July is only about 19 °C on the summit while in January, the coldest month, summit temperatures average −36 °C and can drop as low as −60 °C.
While it is possible for humans to reach the summit of Everest without supplementary oxygen, this can only be done at the expense of extreme hyperventilation and respiratory alkalosis
Photo: James McManus Instagram
