Six intrepid North Coast hikers will soon take on an 11-day expedition to the base camp of Mount Everest.

Tongaat’s Rajen Pillay, Anesh Rampurtab, Spinks Isipingo Subramoney, Mahir Dev Maharaj and father-son duo Sunjay and Praval Bodasing are in the final days of preparation before taking off for Nepal on April 12. They are part of Team North:South, which also includes seven South Coast hikers and one from Johannesburg.

Together the 14-person team will cover a total of 130km, while ascending from a starting altitude of 2 840m above sea level to 5 644m at their highest point (Kala Patthar). All that in temperatures of -20°C and oxygen levels of below 50%!

Those numbers might seem scary to the hiking laymen among us, but the group is well versed in high altitude hikes. Rajen, Anesh and Spinks all climbed Mt Kilimanjaro in 2023, which has a higher peak at 5 895m than anything they will reach in Nepal.

Nevertheless, the base camp hike will be a legitimate challenge for the six North Coasters, who will get a taste of what it is like to climb the world’s highest mountain.

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