British Navy and Marine team to climb Everest for golden jubilee

KATHMANDU (AFP) Apr 04, 2003
A ten-member team from the British Royal Navy and Royal Marines is to climb Mount Everest to mark the 50th anniversary of the first climb by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, officials said Friday.

The expedition this spring will attempt to make the world's first live video broadcast from the summit of the world's highest mountain, a British Embassy press release said.

British ambassador to Nepal Keith George Bloomfield wished the team success.

"The first ascent of Everest was an historic event which consolidated the long and close ties between Britain and Nepal. It is entirely fitting that the 50th anniversary of that event be marked in this way," Bloomfield said.

More than 20 teams are attempting to scale the 8,848-metre (29,028-feet) mountain this spring to celebrate the first conquest on May 29, 1953.

SPACE.WIRE