Students rose to the challenge of climbing over twice the height of Mount Everest in a charity fundraiser for The World Land Trust.
Bloxham students were challenged through a series of activities to climb the vertical height from Everest base camp to the mountain’s summit – a total of 3,484 metres of height gain. Not only did the students reach the summit, but they conquered all targets set, going beyond expectations.’
Just over 100 students took part across eight houses, with an hour to complete and contribute to the ascent of the mountain. This was by ‘glacial’ crossing (a gym equipment obstacle course), a trek (staircase climb) and the famous ‘Hillary Step’ (the Dewey climbing wall). Each house competed to gain the most height and by doing so contributed to the overall school height gain.’
Problem solving challenges were also involved including carrying equipment, setting up five camps and being roped together. Competitors were not allowed to run, with time and metre penalties strictly administered if this rule or any other was broken.’
Before beginning the climb, competitors received a message of encouragement from Nick Hollis, an Everest summiteer. Perhaps this gave some of the motivation to spur on their fantastic performance: in a staggering feat of teamwork and personal endurance, the teams climbed 19,782.04m! The houses gained the most height on the glacier crossing, completing the circuit between them approximately 1,630 times. The Hillary step, the infamous climb on the southeast ridge, quite rightly proved to be the hardest section but the school still gained 2,919m on the climbing wall.’
Fundraising took place to raise money for the World Land Trust – thank you to all parents who donated. The donations will go towards their Buy an Acre programme, where the monies will be spent in protecting four acres of habitat in perpetuity for wildlife.
The Statistics
Total Height gained – 19,782.04m
This is an incredible achievement, climbing over two times the height of Everest, measured from sea level.
Average height gained per person per hour – 195.8m
Height gained on the ‘glacier crossing’ (Obstacle course) – 10,269.64m
Height gained on the ‘trekking section’ (Staircase climb)’ – 6,593m
Height gained on the ‘Hillary Step’ (Climbing wall section) – 2,919m
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1)””’ Seymour ”””””” 4,065.9m’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ av. 239.16/person”””””’ 17 participants
2)””’ Wilberforce’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ 3,894m’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘av. 204.9/person’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ’19 participants
3)””’ Egerton’ ””””””’ 2,903.6m ”””””” av. 263.9/person””””””’ 11 participants
It is worth also highlighting Egerton’s teamwork success in achieving the greatest power, measured per person per hour.
David Barber, Head of Outdoor Education said: ‘I had to check the results as I couldn’t believe it at first.’ It’s my third time of arranging this type of event and I have never seen such massive results.’
Congratulations to all who competed in this challenging event and a big thank you to all those who helped to make the event possible. For photos of Challenge Day, view our Flickr.