His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, has congratulated the mountaineering team of the UAE Armed Forces for scaling Mount Everest, the world's highest peak at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet) above sea level, UAE national news agency WAM reported.
In a text message to the team on achieving the feat, HH Sheikh Mohamed said he was delighted at this signature milestone, praising the team’s resilience and persistence to defy geographical and environmental challenges and hardships.
He lauded the team’s co-operation and solidarity for pursuing the adventure with the spirit of one team and for preparing and acclimatizing themselves physically and psychologically. HH also appreciated the efforts made by the women’s team to reach the Everest summit.
The UAE mountaineers received Sheikh Mohamed’s SMS with extreme joy on reaching the Everest Base Camp at Khumbu Valley (5,363 meters above sea level) in the Himalayas, the world’s largest mountain range.
The UAE climbers expressed their gratitude to HH for closely following their trek up to the peak and for encouraging and supporting them in achieving this landmark.
The military’s mountaineers were the first team from the UAE to set foot on the world's highest peak after braving extreme, icy weather and risky conditions.
The mountaineers reached the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, several weeks ago and walked nine days to reach the Base Camp on the south side and then started out on the trek through four camps to reach the peak.
The Armed Forces’ team was among the first mountaineers to reach Nepal after a moratorium on adventures following the powerful earthquakes that struck the country and glacier landslides that destroyed the Base Camp. The team was also the largest of military groups in terms of the number of climbers in the Arab world.
The team is made up of 16 military personnel including 13 climbers of different ranks, a sports medicine specialist, a high altitude medicine and physiology specialist, three highly professional trainers and adventure experts.
