This month Liam Hanlon, the managing director of new CIOB training partner, the Forshaw Group, is heading to Nepal with a group of lifelong friends from Wirral in readiness for an attempt in May to climb Mount Everest.
The Tri-4-life team will be retracing the famous steps of George Mallory in a centenary celebration of the 1922 British Mount Everest expedition.
This was the first mountaineering expedition with the express aim of making the first ascent of Mount Everest. This was also the first expedition that attempted to climb Everest using bottled oxygen.
The 1922 expedition attempted to climb Everest from the northern side out of Tibet, as the south side out of Nepal was closed to Western foreigners. But in a twist of fate, the Tibetan route has just been closed, so the Tri-4-life team will attempt the summit from the southern side out of Nepal.
As young boys the Tri-4-life team played on the Merseyside streets walked by their Everest heroes Mallory and Andrew Irvine. Hanlon, the team director, said: “It will be a huge honour to follow in their footsteps exactly 100 years since their pioneering endeavour.”
The 2022 team has self-funded four years of preparation and will be supported by Adventure Peaks while raising funds for Community Action Nepal, the Wirral University Teaching Hospital and the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
The team have completed five weeks high altitude training in the Himalayas at the end of last year as they tested themselves in preparation for their attempt.
The team said they feel confident in their preparation, discipline, fitness and ability, and feel well prepared for Everest. The expedition will be raising funds for a Sherpa museum in Nepal as well as shelters for the mountain porters.
To follow the team’s progress or donate, visit: www.facebook.com/Tri4LifeEverest2022.
