After placing the Maltese flag on Mount Everest last year, the three team members of the Challenge 8000 were awarded a prize for national pride on Monday.

Engineer Marco Cremona, doctor Gregory Attard and business systems consultant Robert Gatt were the first Maltese to make it to the peak of the 8,848-metre-high mountain on May 17 last year.

They were awarded the Frank Salt National Pride prize, consisting of €2,500, for their extraordinary feat, described as an ultimate challenge of strength, endurance and discipline.

“It’s great to have our effort acknowledged and appreciated... We hope all can challenge themselves to be better, not only for themselves but for the country,” Mr Cremona said, soon after receiving the award from Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.

He recounted how the three team members had worked together to achieve their common goal for which they had started preparing themselves two years in advance.

Dr Gonzi congratulated the men for their “crazy” feat that had an important message.

“Even though we are a small island and a small population, with no mountains, there’s nothing stopping us from climbing Everest,” Dr Gonzi said.

Martin Scicluna, who chaired the award adjudicating board, praised the team for their “remarkable achievement” that was “definitely not for wimps”.

“On May 17, 2010, the whole country was proud of what this group of young Maltese men had done,” he said.

He also praised Dr Attard for his involvement in saving the life of a British woman on their way down from the mountain. The rescue was reported in the British press.