A taste of Mount Everest

The public today joined Malta’s team that will be attempting to climb Mount Everest between April and June in a series of events that were held to raise funds for the Richmond Foundation.

There were some who opted to trek around Malta with the team, others who went on a high-rope obstacle course or had a go at abseiling down a six-storey high cliff face, and others who spent 10 minutes in -45°C in a blast freezer.

A 24-hour 100km trek was embarked upon by team members Marco Cremona and Gregory Attard from Valletta to Ta’ Qali yesterday evening.

Activities this morning started with a high rope course at the BOV Adventure Park, an activity which the public could join in until 4 p.m.

From there, the public were invited to Mr Cremona and Mr Attard on their way through Chadwick Lakes to Rabat from where they will head to Ix-Xaqqa at Ghar Lapsi to abseil a 20-metre vertical wall.

The public are also being given the opportunity to experience abseiling under the guidance of experienced abseilers using certified equipment.

From Ghar Lapsi the trekkers will head on along the scenic coastal path to Hagar Qim.

The last leg of the trek will be from Birzebbuga to Marsaxlokk later on today. From here, the team will walk on to the Dewfresh Blast Freezer in Albertown, Marsa, where they will spend the night in the freezer at -45°C, the temperature normally found at the summit of Everest.

The freezer was also made available to the public from 4 p.m. who could don the team’s mountaineering clothing and spending 10 minutes in the freezer.

The high ropes course at the Ta' Qali BOV Adventure Park will be available to the public again tomorrow between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Abseiling at ix-Xaqqa, Ghar Lapsi will again be possible from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and the blast freezer experience will be available again from 9 a.m. to 1p.m, tomorrow.

The full Everest 24/8000 programme can be viewed on www.challenge8000.net .