Cornishman Postman to attempt Everest

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/cornwall/hi ... 398423.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nearly 58 years since the first people climbed Mount Everest, a postman from Saltash hopes to be the first Cornishman to achieve the summit.

Ed Buckingham has already climbed peaks in Africa, Europe and North and South America.

It's another step towards completing the Seven Summits challenge, to climb the highest mountain in each of the world's seven continents.

He will set off for Everest at the end of March.

Ed first got interested in mountaineering when he was recovering from fracturing his foot playing football in 1999.

He saw a holiday programme on television about a charity climb of Mount Kilimanjaro and it appealed to him.

He says he enjoys the feeling of doing something with like-minded people: "It's going through a bit of suffering with the altitude and the living conditions. And the euphoria of getting to the top - and it is beautiful."

Ed is training four or five times a week in the Cornish countryside, running and swimming to make sure he is in the best physical shape possible.

'Fear element'

His rigorous regime includes carrying a 30 pound backpack for more than seven hours.

Of the thousands of people who have attempted the summit of Everest, more than 200 have died.

Ed says: "There is a fear element in it and in the back of my mind, it's not the fear of getting up, it's the coming down.

"More accidents occur on the way down Mount Everest, statistics tell, and you won't be totally celebrating until you get back down to base camp."

He has some experience of the Himalayas, having already climbed Mount Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain in the world, also in Nepal.

He has a St Piran's flag ready to make Cornwall's mark on the summit: "My aim is to be the first Cornishman on top of Everest, which will make me extremely proud."

Ed is using his expedition to raise money for the British Heart Foundation as a way of thanking his father, who was diagnosed with heart disease about nine years ago.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Can he plant an RMC flag up there for us.

[red1968]

If he's done park and loop it will be a piece of cake
joking apart.

Good luck ...

[POSTMAN]

LOL Teebs,would be nice.
I think he'd deffo win the courier competition photo thingy of all time though.

[Thunderthighs]

He's gonna have to leave an N/A card for "Mr. Y. Eti."

Just hope he doesn't call into OUR office for his item!!!