An intrepid British climber is planning to make the world's highest mobile phone call from the top of Everest, the BBC reports.

Rod Baber is currently training hard in Kathmandu for his planned May assault on the 8,848 metre peak. He intends to attack the mountain via the tough north ridge - the only route which will allow him to stay connected to a mobile base station in China. Once at the summit, he'll spend 15 minutes or so making the record-setting call and sending an SMS.

Since Baber already holds "a world record for reaching the highest point of every European nation" and "the world record for climbing more of the world's highest points than anyone else", his chances of success seem good. Nonetheless, all his climbing has been on peaks under 7,000 metres, so some serious preparation is in order.

Baber explained: "I've been running eight to 10 miles a day and on the days I'm not doing that I'm doing weights and spending time on a cross-training machine. I've put on just over two stone and increased my body-mass-index by 24 per cent.

"Above 7,000 metres it does not matter how much rest you have, your body just starts to break down and your organs start slowing down. The way you compensate for that is just by putting on as much weight as you can."

Baber's heavyweight attempt is sponsored by Motorola, which has supplied a handset duly "tested in very low temperatures". ®

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