Love it or hate it, there is no escape from the mobile phone – even on the roof of the world. A British mountaineer has become the first person to make a call from the summit of Everest.

Rod Baber, 36, made the call on Monday morning after completing his final ascent of the 8,848m (29,000ft) peak on the Nepal-Tibet border. With the temperature at minus 30C (-22F), he had been forced to keep the mobile phone’s batteries strapped close to his body during the ascent to ensure that they remained active.

“Hi, this is Rod. Making the world’s highest phone call on the 21st of May,” he said, gasping from lack of oxygen, in his first call to a voicemail account posted on his blog. After fumbling for a moment, he continued in short, breathless phrases: “It’s 5.37. It’s about minus 30. It’s cold. It’s fantastic. The Himalayas are everywhere. I can’t feel my toes. Everyone’s in good spirits. We got here in record time. It is amazing. I cannot wait to get back.”

He made a second call to his wife and children and sent a text message to Motorola, which sponsored him and provided the handset, saying: “One small text for man, one giant leap for mobilekind – thanks Motorola.”

The feat was made possible by China Telecom, the Chinese state-controlled mobile operator, which set up a base station at Rongbuk, about five miles (8km) from base camp and 12 miles from the summit.

Telecommunications on the mountain had been restricted to shortwave radio, which has a limited range, and satellite telephones, which are expensive and can be disrupted by bad weather. Before radio the best form of telecommunication on Everest was Morse code, transmitted between base camps along copper wires laid by the ill-fated Mallory-Irvine expedition of 1924.

The advent of relatively cheap mobile telephone calls on the world’s highest mountain marks another milestone in the relentless expansion of cellphone networks around the globe. While some may lament the mobile’s intrusion into one of the planet’s great wildernesses, many mountaineers welcome it as a potential lifesaver.

“In terms of improving safety, any way you can improve communications could help to alert base camp in an emergency,” said Alun Richardson, secretary of the British Association of Mountain Guides, who has been on Everest twice.

The safest and most reliable form of communication on the mountain is still shortwave radio, but budget expedition organisers, who charge as little as £4,500 a client, do not always provide radios. On Saturday, four Italians on such an expedition ran into trouble near the summit and were forced to call Italy on a satellite phone to raise the alarm.

They survived thanks in part to radio assistance and oxygen provided by Mr Baber’s expedition organiser, Himalayan Experience, which charges about £20,000 a client.

Mr Baber is part of a team of about 40 people, including two camera crews. He is already in Guinness World Records for having climbed the highest mountains of all 47 European countries in the shortest time, a feat that he achieved at the age of 29. He also holds the world record for climbing more of the world’s highest points than any other person.

When not indulging his passion for climbing, Mr Baber is managing director of an “aerial adventure centre”, Head 4 Heights in the Cotswolds.

His mobile call is one of several stunts taking place during this year’s Everest climbing season, from April until June. Last week Bear Grylls, a former British soldier, set a record by making the first flight over the summit using a powered paraglider. Also this month a Nepali mountaineer broke his own world record by scaling the peak for a 17th time. Later in the season a Dutch climber named Wim “Iceman” Hof will attempt to scale it wearing shorts, boots, gloves and a cap.

About 550 people are expected to try to climb Everest this year. By the end of the 2006 season 2,062 people had reached the summit and 203 had died on the mountain.

The height of absurdity

— Davo Karnicar, a Slovenian sportsman, was the first to achieve an uninterrupted descent of Mount Everest on skis, in 2000

— Lakpa Tharke, a Nepali guide, is thought to be the first person to strip at the summit. He stood naked for three minutes last year

— In 2005 Didier Delsalle landed a helicopter at the top

— In 2003 the fastest ascent record was broken twice in three days. Pemba Dorjie Sherpa reached the top in 12 hours, 45 minutes; Lakba Gelu then did it in 11 hours

— Pemba Dorjie Sherpa set another record in 2005 – he got married on the summit

Sources: Everest Summiteers Association; everestnews.com; Republic of Slovenia Government Communication Office; Times archive

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