In the Spring of 2010, a team of three Maltese climbers will be attempting to climb Mt Everest, the highest mountain in the world, for the first time ever. This was announced on Tuesday morning at the launch of challenge8000 at the Corinthia Palace Hotel & Spa in Balzan.

challenge8000 is the collective name given to two ambitious mountaineering expeditions which engineer Marco Cremona, medical doctor Greg Attard and business systems consultant Robert Gatt will be embarking on over the next 15 months.

During the launch, the three climbers said that they are confident that the team has all the maturity, ambition and experience it takes to reach the highest summit on Earth. Mr Victor Saunders, a world renowned mountaineer who has climbed the Everest multiple times and who will be guiding the group on both expeditions, was also present for the launch.

Reaching the summit of Mt Everest is by any measure a unique experience which only the most persevering can enjoy and until now, the only two European Union states which have not been to the top of Everest are Cyprus and Malta. challenge8000, therefore, presents a historical challenge both in Maltese and European terms.

Both expeditions will take the challenge8000 team to where no other Maltese has ever set foot and to elevations which no other Maltese has ever climbed to. In fact, the scheduled climbs will take the team over 8,000 metres of elevation into the ‘Death Zone’, a point which is so high that it does not contain enough oxygen to sustain life for a prolonged period.

The Everest expedition is scheduled for May 2010 and will take 10 weeks of climbing and camping in inhospitable terrain and unforgiving cold temperatures to reach the summit at 8,848metres. In September 2009, the team will also be attempting the sixth highest mountain in the world, Cho Oyu (8,201metres).

The challenge8000 team has pledged that throughout the next year it will be promoting promoting awareness about Asthma and better air quality in Malta through its association with the Society of Maltese Asthmatics and the Stop the Dust! campaign. For further details about challenge8000 one may contact team@challenge8000.net or call on 99236238 or 79261562.

Photograph shows (left to right): Victor Saunders, Robert Gatt, Gregory Attard, Marco Cremona, Glen Calleja.

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