Kenton Cool said: “I’m pleased that we got up there, pleased that we got the flag up there, but it was a horrible summit. I feel completely beaten up. I think partly it’s disappointment over the fact that Ran didn’t make it, but both Rob and I, for some reason, found it a hard summit day.

“Ran made his decision, and he was very matter of fact about it. The way he said it there was no debating it. I apologised to him – I felt I had let him down in a way. It’s nice to bag a summit, but I wasn’t here to for that – I was here to get Ran to the top.

“I always tell Ran off for saying things are a failure and it wasn’t a failure because we got the flag to the top. On expedition you have to be safe, you have to have lots of fun, and then summits come third. So Ran is going home safe and sound, I hope he has had a lot of fun, he has played a lot of cards, monopoly, scrabble, he always has a smile on his face, but unfortunately there was no summit this time.”

The Everest Challenge has raised £1.73 million so far and Sir Ranulph is calling for people to keep on donating to reach the target.

“So as long as we reach our target of £3 million for Marie Curie I will be happy.”

Here you can see the pictures from the summit, and a round up of all of the images that have bought the Everest Challenge alive over the last few months.

Many helicopter crashes have been caused by the thinner air at Base Camp – so teams walk down the valley to a safer altitude.

Team Marie Curie walked for six hours, at first over massive boulders and ankle breaking rubble. But gradually the scenery became greener and the oxygen thicker.

The team arrived at Pheriche just before sundown on Monday, May 26.

The next day, after five hours of sitting in a yak field with a 700kg pile of luggage, a Russian MI17 eventually arrived to take them back to Kathmandu.

Once in Kathmandu, Sir Ranulph Fiennes hopped on a flight back to the UK.

The journey to Kathmandu involves a seven hour walk down the valley to an altitude that is safer for helicopters to land.

It took seven days to walk up to Base Camp and just two to get out – weather permitting.

Keep watching this website for more video footage and pictures.

Sir Ranulph said: “In my life I don’t normally ever try anything more than once. When I switched from polar treks to climbing mountains I had two challenges in mind. One was the highest mountain in the world – Mount Everest, and the other was the most lethal – the north face of the Eiger.

“I climbed the north face of the Eiger successfully last year with Kenton Cool. On Everest in 2005, I had a heart attack at 8,500 metres on the North Tibetan side but escaped with my life. If I was younger, I might think third time lucky, but I have another expedition planned for 2009 that doesn’t involve a mountain.”

After reaching an altitude of 8,400 metres on Everest, Sir Ranulph turned back for the South Col due to exhaustion. Bad weather forced Sir Ranulph to make his summit bid one day earlier than was planned. He did not get the chance to rest and recharge his batteries.

Sir Ranulph said: “It has taken seven weeks and a year’s planning to get tantalisingly close to the summit. After climbing that vast way, it is of course very annoying indeed to have to turn back.

“But after 42 years of doing expeditions all over the world one has learned not to cry over spilt milk. So as long as we reach our target of £3 million for Marie Curie I will be happy.”

Of his aborted summit attempt Sir Ranulph Fiennes said: “I wanted an extra day to recover in Camp 4 but the weather was bad so we were told to go for it straight away.

“We left camp at 8.30pm in the evening but by the time I got past, what I would describe as 600 metres and three frozen dead bodies, I realised that I was too tired to continue.

“It was my decision to turn around, I told Kenton and Rob, we shook hands and they promised to take the Marie Curie Cancer Care flag to the summit.

“I won’t be returning to Everest, it’s a seven week trip – last time I had a heart attack, this time bad timing and weather scuppered my chances, I think any third attempt would be bad luck.”

At 12.45am (Nepalese Time) this morning Sir Ranulph Fiennes arrived back at the South Col suffering from extreme exhaustion. He left Camp 4 to head down the mountain this morning.

At 1.30pm Sir Ranulph radioed down to base camp from Camp 2 to ask permission to return all the way down to Base Camp.

Sir Ranulph is expected in Base Camp late afternoon today.

This video was shot yesterday – and was brought down the mountain by a Sherpa at lunchtime. It shows Sir Ranulph making his way up to Camp 4.

Keep posted for Sir Ranulph Fiennes’ first exclusive interview…

At 12.45am (Nepalese time) the Base Camp radio cracked into life with the news that Sir Ranulph was back at the South Col, having turned back due to exhaustion.

Sir Ranulph’s summit bid began at 7am Friday morning when the team left Camp 3 for Camp 4. The day began with a laborious, steep, trudge up a fixed line to the Yellow Band – where climbers then traverse over the Geneva Spur.

On reaching Camp 4, just after lunch, they rested for just a few hours before pushing on for the summit at 8.30pm last night.

Sir Ranulph has rested at Camp 4 and has now begun his descent back to Base Camp.

Watch this space… more updates later.

In addition to producing the editorial content, journalist and photographer Liz Scarff is producing and directing the project from Everest Base Camp, ensuring that up to the minute news is sent both to The Daily Telegraph, the official challenge partner, and also to the Everest Challenge website.

Cameraman David Carter has been with Sir Ranulph for every step of the challenge, recording his acclimatisation trips, hanging off ladders and conducting interviews with Sir Ranulph in the Khumbu Icefall and up to the Lhotse Face.

Despite the altitude and the freezing temperatures, Liz and David have ensured that the public have been able to keep up with the latest news from Team Marie Curie.

In what is possibly the world’s highest edit suite, Liz and David cut the video material into short packages and send them using a satellite DSL connection to Marie Curie Cancer Care’s London office. The Everest Challenge project manager, Kate Rees, then ‘stitches’ the video back together and uploads the news items to this website.

Liz has been sent on assignment to many challenging countries and environments. Her work has been published in over thirteen countries for publications and media organisations including: BBC, Channel 4, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Observer, Daily Mirror, Marie Claire, ELLE, Glamour, Geographical, BBC Top Gear, Saturday Telegraph Magazine, FHM and many others.

Cameraman David Carter has a background in sound recording, most notably sound installation and design. His work has been supported by the Arts Council and the Henry Moore Foundation. In his spare time, David is working on an interactive environmental project involving glaciers. His other work for Marie Curie Cancer Care includes sound recording on a shoot with Hugh Grant.

Dr Rob Casserley, who has already summited Everest four times, will be taking photographs and recording the team’s progress from Camp 3 onwards.

Team Marie Curie left Camp 3 this morning at 7am (Nepalese time) to head into the death zone. They reached their destination on the South Col around 1pm.

Speaking from his tent, sounding breathless and croaky, Kenton Cool said: “We made Camp 4 in really good time. Ran left around 7am but Rob broke his crampon so we had to spend 45 minutes fixing that before we could set off. Since we’ve arrived Ran has been eating and drinking loads, which is a really good sign.”

The weather forecast for tomorrow predicts high winds of 29 mph. The upper limit that climbers can tolerate for summiting is around 30 mph. Kenton said: “The weather is not looking too great but we’re leaving Camp 4 shortly for the summit, Ran is looking really good, so wish us well.”

Sir Ranulph Fiennes said: “I’m not too worried about not having much rest before we leave as I have been expecting this for a long time.”

The team will spend this remaining time putting on their down suits, climbing harnesses, boiling water and trying to make sure they are well hydrated.

The team will aim to summit anywhere between 6am and 10am local time.

This video shows the Team Marie Curie’s ascent to Camp 3.