Kenton Cool with the Olympic medal at Camp Four

Everest mountaineer Kenton Cool will tonight make his bid for the summit of the world’s highest mountain with an Olympic medal round his neck.

The 38-year-old climber plans to leave Camp Four on the South Col to fulfil the pledge made in 1924 to take the medal to the summit.

Communicating by satellite phone from the camp, 7,920m (25,984ft) up on the mountain, he said: “If Everest allows me Great Britain will fulfil its promise to the IOC in the early hours of Friday morning when I place this medal on her summit.

“I will do this just one day short of the 90th anniversary of the exact day that George Ingle Finch, Geoffrey Bruce and Tejbir Bura struck out and reached 27,300ft.”

According to his London team, the Gloucestershire-based climber will make his summit push fuelled by lemon tea and Twix bars.

A team spokesperson said: “He sounded really well, very happy and looking forward to tomorrow.”

If Cool makes the summit tomorrow, it will push his existing British record for Everest ascents to ten. He will also fulfil the pledge made by members of the 1922 expedition who failed to reach the summit but were awarded an Olympic gold medal at the inaugural Winter Olympics in 1924.

If conditions permit, he will make his summit attempt at 4am tomorrow, Friday.

• Update: at 2.15pm, Kenton Cool texted to say he and his two colleagues would be leaving their tent on the South Col for their final summit push ‘in five minutes’.