Maltese trio conquer Mount Cho Oyu summit

Three Maltese climbers successfully reached the summit of Mount Cho Oyu in the Himalayas, the sixth highest mountain in the world, yesterday.

Robert Gatt, Gregory Attard and Marco Cremona, who plan to scale the Everest next year, are the first Maltese to climb the mountain, which stands more than eight kilometres tall.

A spokesman for the climbers said they reached the summit early yesterday morning despite already being exhausted even before leaving their second camp, which is situated some seven kilometres up. They returned to their camp shortly after to rest and none of them suffered any serious altitude sickness, the spokesman said.

Mr Gatt, Mr Attard and Mr Cremona have been progressing steadily since the beginning of the month to gain the necessary acclimatisation in two cycles by moving up and down the mountain. During their last stretch they also used supplementary oxygen, which helps them climb faster and reduce the possibility of frostbite and injuries caused by the high altitudes.

Next year, the daring trio will be the first Maltese climbers to attempt the gruelling climb to Mount Everest's summit, which could be seen from Mount Cho Oyu on a bright day.