A team of three men will attempt to climb the sixth highest mountain in the world next week to prepare themselves for their ultimate challenge of being the first Maltese to reach Mount Everest's summit next year.

"This will give us a good idea of whether we are good candidates to climb Everest or not," the group's leader engineer Marco Cremona said.

They will be assisted by professional mountaineer Victor Saunders, as well as a number of "friendly" Tibetan yaks who will carry up most of their equipment, including stoves, gas tanks and climbing gear.

The Challenge 8000 team will break a national altitude record by climbing more than 8,000 metres at Mount Cho Oyu, considered to be almost as technically and physically challenging as Mount Everest.

The mountain, which is 30 kilometres west of Everest situated close to the Nepal and Tibet border, is often used by mountaineers in preparation for Everest. One of the problems they will encounter will be "traffic jams" because the mountain is particularly popular at this time of year due to optimum weather conditions.

The team, which also includes Robert Gatt and Gregory Attard, is training as hard as possible to prepare physically and mentally for the challenges.

"We climbed 39 peaks in three days at the Lake District, and we also had expeditions in the French Alps."We even do a lot of trekking in Malta, especially at night, partly because of the weather but also because it's a bit embarrassing to walk around with massive boots in broad daylight," Dr Cremona joked during a press conference yesterday.

To climb Mount Cho Oyu, which is part of the Himalayans range, the team will have to spend between seven and eight weeks together, "sleeping in the same tent" and relying on each other for moral support.

"So as much as possible we try to train together to create a good group feeling," he said.

Dr Attard explained that the team faced great medical difficulties, not only because of the remoteness of being far away from any medical centre but because of the climatic conditions that would exacerbate any illness or injury they developed. The group will be taking supplementary oxygen but will also need to be in exceptional physical shape to ensure they overcome any weather conditions they encounter.

The team is promoting awareness about asthma and better air quality in Malta through its association with the Society of Maltese Asthmatics and the Stop the Dust Campaign.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com

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