A night in a freezer

Three men donned insulated vests, jackets and pullovers and spent last night in a freezer normally used to chill sausage meat. It was not an extreme measure to beat the stifling heat but it served as a warm-up in their bid to climb Mount Everest.

Marco Cremona, Greg Attard and Robert Gatt, who form the Challenge8000 team, tested out their specially-made expedition clothing by spending 10 hours in sub-zero temperatures in a blast freezer in Albert Town, Marsa. They entered at 10 p.m. last night and were due to emerge at 8 a.m. today.

The blast freezer is used to freeze foods in minimum time with temperatures going down to -40 °C, similar to those up near the summit of the Himalayan Mountains.

Before venturing into the ice hell, Mr Cremona said: "In mountaineering you need to have a lot of trust... in your climbing buddy, your equipment and even in yourself. In this case, we need to build the experience and the trust in our expedition clothing; that it can protect us sufficiently should the situation above 8,000m take a turn for the worse."

The three adventurers also tested their equipment, which included headlamps, foot warmers, batteries for their special phones and camcorders, as well as improving their skills in handling equipment and packing expedition bags, and making tea with a stove.

Mr Cremona's only fear before going into the freezer was that they would fall asleep and suffer hypothermia.

They picked up their made-to-measure expedition clothing from a world-class manufacturer in the UK last week.

The Challenge8000 Everest expedition is scheduled for spring 2010 and will take 10 weeks of climbing and camping in snowy terrain and unforgiving cold temperatures. Reaching the summit of the highest mountain in the world is a matter of perseverance, sheer determination and survival.

It will be the first time a Maltese team will climb to an elevation of 8,848 metres and stand on top of the world. Before attempting Everest, the team also plan to summit Cho Oyu in the Himalayas starting on August 26, which is the sixth highest mountain in the world. Their return is scheduled for mid-October.

Climbing Everest is a most ambitious adventure, demanding top physical fitness and considerable resilience and mental preparation. It takes long months of preparation, extensive mountaineering experience and an iron will to embark on such an expedition.

Mount Everest was first climbed in 1953 by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. By the end of the 2008 climbing season, there had been 4,102 ascents to the summit by about 2,700 individuals. Everest has claimed 210 lives, including eight who perished during a 1996 storm high on the mountain.

But Mr Cremona clearly seeks the thrill and satisfaction of completing such a challenging feat. Having been climbing mountains for the past five years, including Kilimanjaro and Mt Aconcagua in Argentina, he still hasn't reached his 'summit' - Everest.

"It gives me great pride to be a member of the first team to take the Maltese flag to the top of the world and make history," he says.

"According to our guide, Victor Saunders, reaching the summit of Everest is like what it feels for a businessman to make his first million. He can speak from experience (he's climbed Everest four times already); I am dying to find out."