This month, Olympian Homes committed to becoming lead sponsor for the AGS Adaptive Grand Slam expedition to Everest in April 2019.
Adaptive Grand Slam team members Martin Hewitt and Jaco van Gass made their first attempt to summit Everest in 2012 with Walking With The Wounded. That expedition also included Mark Slatter, Chairman of Olympian Homes. Disappointingly for the team, the expedition was called off due to a combination of bad weather and extreme danger on the slopes above. This time Terry Byrne will join the summit group.
As part of their training, the team first summited Mount Manaslu (8,156m), the world’s 8th highest peak, and only 692m lower than Everest. They were the first disabled climbers in history to achieve this. Manaslu, provided excellent training conditions for the Everest climb with her high altitudes, sub-zero temperatures, crevasses, and strong demand for the team’s adapted climbing techniques and equipment to be put to the test.
On the Everest attempt, the team were challenged with the physical limitations of their injuries, altitude sickness, and fatigue. Meanwhile, the mountain confronted them with with hurricane force winds, ice cold temperatures, and treacherous paths through ice fields. The team’s first Everest attempt with Walking With The Wounded was televised on ITV’s ‘Harry’s Mountain Heroes’. The Adaptive Grand Slam team will return to finish what they started in April 2019.