Roscrea man begins conquest of Everest without bottled oxygen

A ROSCREA man who hopes to make history and become the first ever Irish person to conquer Mount Everest without the assistance of bottled oxygen has begun his journey to Earth's highest peak.

Only 216 elite climbers from around the world have successfully summited Mount Everest without the aid of oxygen tanks - and Roscrea's James McManus hopes to be the first ever Irishman to achieve the extraordinary feat in the coming days.

James, who is son of the very well known retired Roscrea Doctor, George McManus and Libby McManus (RIP) owns Dublin-based adventure travel company, Earth's Edge and is a very well seasoned climber.

James, who is 39-years-old, prior to flying to Nepal last month said his whole life has been leading up to this moment.

"Climbing Everest in itself is a very difficult thing to do, but this is bringing it to another level. It's the ultimate test of human endurance. I've been building up to this moment my whole life, and over the past two years I've tried to bring my fitness up to a higher level to prepare for the physical and mental hardship ahead” he said.

James suffered a setback last week when about 30-minutes after reaching a resting point at 4,800m he felt unwell and had a heartbeat of 90bpm instead of his usual 42bpm at sea level. But after taking paracetamol and hydrating he soon felt better.

“When the pandemic grounded me and I wasn’t able to go on these adventures, a big part of my life went missing. It’s only when something is taken away from you that you realise how important it is. So, when we came through the pandemic, I thought: life is short”.