Dubai students to scale new heights

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Murdoch varsity group to trek to Mt Everest base camp.

Dubai — Come April 25 and a group of students and staff from Murdoch University Dubai will embark on an adventurous trip to the base camp of the highest mountain on Earth Mount Everest. The students will start their trek to the South Base Camp of Mount Everest on April 26 after taking a flight from Kathmandu to Lukla.

From Lukla the group will trek upwards and is expected to reach the Everest Base Camp on May 3.

On May 4 the trekkers will reach the summit of Kala Patthar (5554 metres above sea level) and will reflect on their eight-day experience of working as a team and achieving the goal of first reaching the Mt Everest base camp. Kala Patthar is a notable landmark located on the south ridge of Pumori in the Nepalese Himalayas.

The ascent of Kala Patthar is very popular with trekkers in the region of Mount Everest as it provides the most accessible point to view Mount Everest from base camp to peak (due to the structure of Everest its peak cannot be seen from the base camp).

By the time they return to Lukla the team will have walked over 125km in 11 days. This is the second trek involving Murdoch Dubai students along with Global Institute Middle East (GIME).

GIME is an Academic Infrastructure Provider (AIP) licensed by Tecom providing the infrastructure and facilities to Murdoch University International Study Centre Dubai. In March 2013 the founder and co-chairman of GIME Rakesh Wahi led a team of senior managers of GIME’s South African sister company CNBC Africa to a successful summit of Mt Kilimanjaro the highest free-standing mountain in the world and the highest mountain in Africa.

Within weeks of the Kilimanjaro venture it was decided to take a larger group of Murdoch Dubai students and staff to Everest base camp (5360 metres).

Murdoch Dubai Dean Dr Max Sully indicated that Murdoch takes great pride in providing supportive and student-friendly environment in which students can develop and excel both academically and personally. “We seek to enhance students’ experiences with a well-rounded approach to their education including working on real-life case studies with local businesses and extracurricular activities like this trek” said Dr Max.

Director of Murdoch Dubai Dan Adkins said that the anticipated experience including its inherent ups and downs and the challenges and personal triumphs will hopefully stay with the students throughout their lives and will help them see that success in life will come most readily through persistence personal sacrifice sheer drive commitment and team work.