A TAVISTOCK medic is set to embark on a two-month expedition to climb the arduous North East ridge of Mount Everest, treating Royal Navy and Royal Marines climbers for frostbite and any other injuries.

Surgeon Lt Andy Brown will be medical officer for a team of ten climbers taking part in a challenge to mark the 50th anniversary of the successful attempt to climb Everest by the North East ridge by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing.

It will be the Royal Navy and Royal Marines first attempt on the world?s highest mountain. The team are hoping to achieve another first by becoming the first crew in the world to broadcast live footage from Everest?s summit.

The team consists of ten climbers including Andy, and will set off for Tibet on Tuesday, April 1.

Andy said he had wanted to join an expedition for some time: ?Being back in the Himalayas, together with having the satisfaction of practicing medicine is just fantastic,? he said.

In order to mount the expedition, Andy says those taking part have had to raise a great deal of sponsorship money, he is two-thirds of the way to reaching his sponsorship total of £2,400.

Andy said a lot of preparation had gone into the expedition. ?Most of the medical supplies are already out there. We have set up two field hospitals and everyone who is climbing will have individual first aid kits,? said Andy.

He said it would take about 17 hours to climb from the last base camp to the summit.

Andy lives in Tavistock, where he will be working as a GP registrar at the Stannary Surgery from August. He currently works at Derriford Hospital. Andrew?s fiancée Alison is also in the Navy and is the doctor on one of three support treks. The couple are planning to get married in Tavistock in September.

Andy joined the Royal Navy four years ago, and then joined 42 Commando as the unit doctor. In the two years he served with 42 Commando, he was deployed in Sierra Leone, Ukraine, Turkey and Norway.

Andy began climbing while studying at Magdalen College, Oxford University, and has since climbed across the UK and in the Alps, Gibraltar, Crete, Tenerife and Norway.

In direct support of the main summit climb, there will be three support treks simultaneously running from Katmandu in Nepal, to Everest base camp for up to 60 servicemen and women.

Places on these support treks will be filled from all ranks and branches of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, the aim being to widen the Everest experience beyond the elite few.

The climbers? progress can be followed online at: http://www.rneverestnorthridge2003.com">www.rneverestnorthridge2003.com

Anyone who would like to help Andy with sponsorship for the expedition can contact him on 07803 618286, or by e-mail at: