News | Sunday, 28 June 2009

PRINT THIS ARTICLE

Challenge8000 team climbs 39 peaks in three days

The Challenge8000 team returned from a gruelling training expedition in the English Lake District this week, during which the team managed to climb 39 mountains over three days.
The schedule included an average of 15 hours of walking per day with 15-20kg backpacks to test endurance thresholds.
The Challenge8000 team plans to be the first Maltese team to climb Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, in March 2010. In September the Challenge8000 team will attempt to reach the summit of Chop Oyu, the 6th highest mountain in the world.
In three days, the team covered over 95 kilometres and logged a total elevation gain of 7950 metres, a mere 1,000m short of the summit of Everest – which is typically climbed over 10 weeks. The trek started in Keswick with an 800m climb to Skiddaw, the third highest mountain in England and finished down Grey Knotts to Honister Pass. During the trek, the team encountered uncharacteristically hot weather reaching highs of 30 degrees Celcius.
The team would wake up before sunrise and start walking by 6am. Throughout the day, the team would have lunch on the go, consisting mostly of nuts and energy bars until 10pm when they pitch tents and prepare a quick cooked dinner. Each climber carried 3litres of water which would be refilled from streams along the way. However, given the hot weather conditions team members still suffered from dehydration.
The heat and thirst and the constant ascending and descending – sometimes from 900m to 100m and back up again to 800m 2-3 times a day – presented the biggest challenge but this trek also provided the team with a unique opportunity to bond and work as a team.
The next training expedition for the Challenge8000 team will be in Chamonix in the French Alps towards the end of June where the team will be polishing their ice climbing skills under the keen eye of Mr Victor Saunders, the guide who will be leading the Challenge8000 team in their Cho Oyu and Everest expeditions. Victor Saunders has reached the summit of Everest four times in the last five years.

www.challenge8000.net

Any comments?
If you wish your comments to be published in our Letters pages please click button below.
Please write a contact number and a postal address where you may be contacted.

All the interviews from Reporter on MaltaToday's YouTube channel.

EDITORIAL

INTERVIEW