Scotsman Ricky Munday, 40, has confirmed that he is making final preparations to climb the North Ridge of Everest in Tibet, from 6 April to 4 June. He is undertaking the two-month expedition to climb the world’s highest mountain (8,848m) in memory of his twin uncles, who were supported by Macmillan nurses in their home, surrounded by family. There are many different treks to do on and around Everest which are equally difficult – the Everest Base Camp Trek for example. But these types of treks need to be extensively researched and planned before even thinking about setting off. That’s why Munday has been planning the expedition for over a year now and has secured significant financial support to help finance the cost of the expedition. Adventure travel company Wild Guanabana is the main sponsor, providing funding and satellite communication capability that will allow Munday to post photos and updates on social media directly from Everest.
A British team led by George Mallory in 1921 first attempted Everest’s North Ridge route – they reached the North Col at 7,003m, which is now the normal site for Camp 1. A 1924 British expedition with Mallory and Irvine is most notable for the mystery of whether they summited or not – Mallory’s body was found in 1999 it is still uncertain whether he reached the summit.
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay climbed Everest for the first time from the South via Nepal in 1953.
‘This will be the most challenging expedition I’ve ever attempted and I’m excited to be following in the footsteps of pioneering British mountaineers’ said Ricky Munday
To prepare for this expedition, Munday has spent the last decade organising and completing fifteen expeditions to the world’s greater ranges – he has climbed four of the seven continental summits and reached a maximum altitude of 6,962m on the summit of Aconcagua, the highest peak outside of the Himalayas.
After flying into Lhasa and travelling 900km overland to Chinese basecamp (5,200m), Munday will spend six weeks slowly climbing up the mountain to set up and stock the higher camps and to acclimatise fully, before descending back down to base camp to rest and recuperate. He’ll then spend up to seven days climbing back up through the camps to make his final summit bid.
