A TEAM of Army mountaineers plan to become the first Britons to conquer Mount Everest by the most dangerous route.

Twenty men and one woman will face blizzards, gale force winds and dizzying heights in their attempt to make it into the history books via the mountain's treacherous West Ridge.

They will tackle the world's highest mountain -29,028ft above sea level -in temperatures as low as -50C and winds reaching up to 100mph.

The team will be led by Warrant Officer Class 2 Dave Bunting, a highly experienced high-altitude climber who runs the gym at the Army Foundation College, in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

Its only female member will be Warrant Officer Class 2 Jude Humphries, 36, originally from North Yorkshire, who will be the team's food manager.

At the expedition launch yesterday Warrant Officer Bunting said: "We want to make British history. To make it would be absolutely overwhelming and to share it with this team would be amazing.

"There may be only a few to reach the summit, but the success will be due to all the team and the people who have supported them."

Warrant Officer Humphries insisted there would be no special measures for her.

She said: "You get the usual banter, but I do not see it as an issue because I have always been in a male environment during my 17 years in the Army.

"There will be no special treatment by any means and I do not want any."

Since Sir Edmund Hilary reached Everest's peak in 1953, more than 2,000 climbers have successfully followed him, but only 13 went via the West Ridge.

The group will set off for Tibet on March 22 and hope to reach the summit within six weeks.