Challenge8000 expedition kicks off

The challenge8000 team will be leaving Malta this afternoon to kick off a climbing expedition which, if completed, will be a first for Malta.

Challenge8000 is the collective name given to two ambitious mountaineering expeditions which engineer Marco Cremona, medical doctor Greg Attard and business systems consultant Robert Gatt have embarked on.

Next year, the challenge8000 team will attempt to climb the highest mountain in the world - Mount Everest. In what is probably the ultimate adventure sporting challenge, the team will be the first Maltese one to climb to an elevation of 8,848 metres and stand on top of the world.

Before attempting Everest, the challenge8000 team will climb Cho Oyu, which at 8,201 metres is the sixth highest mountain in the world. This will serve as a preparatory climb to Everest. The Cho Oyu climb will take the team into the Death Zone, that is the level of elevation which does not contain enough oxygen to sustain life for a prolonged period.

The challenge8000 Everest expedition is scheduled for next May and will take 10 weeks of climbing and camping in inhospitable terrain and unforgiving cold temperatures, blizzards, avalanches, snow storms and 100 km/h winds.

Reaching the summit of Mount Everest is by any measure a unique experience which demands top physical fitness and considerable resilience and mental preparation. The only two European Union states which have not been to the top of Everest are Cyprus and Malta. Challenge8000, therefore, presents a historical challenge both in Maltese and European terms.

Mr Victor Saunders, a world renowned mountaineer who has climbed the Everest multiple times will be guiding the group on both expeditions.

The challenge8000 team will be playing an active role in 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.

www.challenge8000.net

see also: http://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090826/local/challenge8000-team-leaves-for-first-mission