Cimbing Mount Everest

Taking on Mount Everest is a major sporting challenge incorporating months of tough physical training and a variety of warm up climbs,
intended to gain further experience and test the capabilities of my
body at extreme high altitude.

To reach the summit of Mount Everest at 8,850m, I will need to spend almost two months on the mountain acclimatising as much as possible to the extreme altitude. The reduced levels of available oxygen on Mount Everest especially above 8,000m cause a major physiological and psychological demand on the body. This demand along with the adverse weather conditions, high level of physical risk, disrupted sleep and loss of appetite all add to the shear extent of this challenge.

However, I am confident that the achievement of standing on top of the world at the age of 21 and raising awareness of my chosen charity ActionAid will adequately counteract these challenges.

Read More

I will be climbing Mount Everest with the expedition company Dream
Guides; www.dream-guides.com. Dream guides was founded in 2005
and has fast become one of Britain's leading mountain guiding and
expedition companies, with an highly impressive success rate on Everest.

The expedition will be lead by Kenton Cool who is accredited by the International Federation of mountain guides association (IFMGA). He possesses expert knowledge of running successful Everest expeditions backed up by personally summiting Everest an impressive 9 times.

We will be climbing Everest via the south col from Nepal, a more popular route than the North side due to its higher success rate and less time spent above 8,000m. This route was also the journey taken by Sir Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay on the first successful ascent of Everest in 1953.

Read More

Training for Everest

To climb Mount Everest I will need to be at the height of physical fitness and have the experience at altitude to know how my body will react to the extreme environmental conditions. I am currently undergoing a training programme with the sports specialists at the University of the West of England. This involves various high intensity cardiovascular sessions based on current sports physiology literature, resistance sessions specific to Mount Everest and frequent progress tests with the strength and conditioning coach at the university.

Having a high level of physical fitness is of great importance to success on Everest but so is further increasing my mountaineering experience especially at high altitude. Knowing what to expect on Everest and how my body will cope at extreme altitude will be a great psychological advantage and therefore produce a greater chance for success. I am therefore planning to do two main expedition climbs before going to Everest next spring. These will be Mont Blanc in July 2011 and Ama Dablam in November and December.

Return to beginning