IN EVERYDAY life, he cuts a suave figure as head of Scottish pictures at auction house Sotheby's. But in his other life as a climber, André Zlattinger is on the edge of Everest's "death zone", preparing to strike out for the mountain's summit on an expedition to raise funds for the hospital where his mother was treated for cancer before her death.
A father of two, Mr Zlattinger has kept abreast of auction results in Edinburgh while on the mountain. But in e-mails to The Scotsman, he also spoke of the danger of his current task, recalling how on his first Everest attempt in 2006, he turned back without reaching the summit after witnessing "a number of deaths and accidents".
If a "weather window" opens over the 8,848m mountain, Mr Zlattinger is set to join the first summit team of his expedition this week. The mountain's "death zone" – above 8,000m where the air is starved of oxygen – is where most Everest fatalities occur.
In an e-mail, Mr Zlattinger, 35, wrote: "I had no regrets at the time about my decision to turn back in 2006, but in the back of my mind I wanted to return to Everest to have a further attempt under my terms."
Mr Zlattinger lives in Sussex with his wife Ruth and sons Frederick and William. He is a senior director in the British paintings department at Sotheby's and, as head of Scottish sales, handled record-breaking auctions such as Jack Vettriano's The Singing Butler.
He's a regular visitor to the Highlands and Islands, and has also climbed in the Alps, the Andes and the Himalayas.
While Mr Zlattinger first tried to climb Everest's North Ridge, his mother was starting treatment for pancreatic cancer. She died last May, aged 62, and he is now raising money for the Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign, at the London hospital where she was treated. It is Europe's largest cancer centre.
"She had always known I wanted to try and climb Everest and encouraged me to go," he writes on his website. "She had no regrets in life and this has encouraged me to have a further attempt on the mountain."
On 1 May, Sotheby's latest Edinburgh sale netted more than £4 million. From the Everest base camp, a delighted Mr Zlattinger said it showed the "real depth" of the Scottish market and "renewed interest in the Glasgow school". He will be back in Scotland for his firm's sale at Gleneagles in August.
With other climbers, Mr Zlattinger's group endured a frustrating wait last week while a Chinese team scaled the mountain with the Olympic torch. The sight of military jets circling the mountain for an hour showed they had made it.
This week, Mr Zlattinger learned he would be in the first summit team with a group of Australian climbers. If the weather holds, the attempt will begin on 21 May.
He wrote in his online diary: "I am, like most of the team, excited about the summit push but also apprehensive about the final day as for all of us it is the unknown when in the death zone."
'This morning he announced the summit teams'ANDRE Zlattinger flew into Khatmandu, Nepal, on 31 March. He has recorded his progress at:
www.i-terra.com/everest• 13 April, Base Camp: We meandered along the moraine, and then before us we saw the huge Khumbu ice fall with numerous bright tents at the bottom – base camp.
• 20 April, Camp One: A cold morning with a bitter wind and I covered my face and nose with a scarf, but after a while the lack of oxygen with the scarf made it unbearable and I removed it.
• 25 April, Camp Two: My pack seemed much heavier today as I was carrying my sleeping bag, roll mat, down clothes, spare clothes, water, medication and other bits – I could really feel the weight … We soon had to cross two huge ladders and with the heavy loads it made it much harder with one's balance.
• 9 May, Camp Two: A day of sheer agony … we all had huge packs as we were carrying up all our high altitude kit for the summit push. We all found the climb hard and I struggled to get my legs moving at any reasonable speed in the morning.
• 14 May, Base Camp: No further development on the weather and we will be at base camp for at least a few more days. It has been a beautiful morning here and our camp is slowly melting.
• 15 May, Base Camp: Henry spent yesterday studying numerous forecasts and this morning he announced the summit teams. I am in the first summit team with the Australians and we are heading up to Camp Two on 17 May, and if the weather holds we should be going for the summit around 21 May.
