Expedition Everest
8th September 2009
The Explorer Scouts had a fantastic opportunity tonight to listen and talk to Carrie Gibson, who on the 16th May 2007 stood on top of the highest point on the planet as she completed her ascent to the top of Mount Everest (at a height of 29,035 ft or 8850m). Carrie shared her experiences with Explorers from our Unit as well as guests from the 121 Warrior Unit and the 28th ESU.
She described how her journey to Everest had taken three years to plan and she had raised £25,000 to make it a reality. From the extremes of temperature on the peak +30 to -40 degrees, in the same day! over the 8 week period of time spent on the mountain from base camp to the final ascent to the summit, which she reached shortly after 6 a.m. on the 16th, becoming only the fourth Scottish woman and the first Scout on an expedition to reach the summit.
A question and answer session followed the presentation where everything from "would you do it again?" to "how much oxygen did you need?" and "did anybody die when you were there?"
Carrie finished by wishing all those who were going on the Explorer Belt Expedition to Canada in 2010 the best of luck in their challenge.
