After 12 days on the road, the Everest 14 team has finally approached base camp, the first step of their arduous journey to become the first Maltese to summit the mountain from the north ridge route in Tibet.

The team is made up of expert mountaineer Gregory Attard, who has already scaled the mountain from the southeast ridge route from Nepal, and three adventure seekers: Raphael Fenech Adami, Matthew Xerri and Douglas Barbaro Sant. It is the first time that the latter three will be attempting to scale a mountain higher than 7,000 metres.

Writing to Times of Malta, Dr Attard said the journey was put in jeopardy because of a delay in issuing a Chinese entry visa.

The team left Malta on April 4 for Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, subsequently travelling to Kodari, the Nepalese border town with Tibet. On Tuesday they were in the Tibetan town of Tingri, at an altitude of 4,300 metres.

“All the group has acclimatised well and we are now ready to move on. Today [yesterday], we will get to see the impressive north face of Everest in all its glory for the first time.

“The team is doing great, morale is high and everyone is now very excited and eager to start climbing,” Dr Attard wrote.

The team reminded the public to help the cause to raise funds for Id-Dar Tal-Providenza. They are attempting to raise €1 for every foot they climb. The target sum is €30,000 as Mount Everest is 30,000 feet high (8,848 metres).

The team will attempt the 15-hour climb to the summit during the first opportune weather window in the first week of May.To donate, go to www.everest14.com/charity.