Stairway to Everest Challenge
Stairway to Everest is a challenge with several components, spanning from Phase 1 (February) to Phase 5 (May) of the Everest 2000 education program. This is a general overview of the challenge, details of the activities in each phase will come online as the program progresses.

Phase 1
Students are invited to join the Stairway to Everest Challenge via an online video challenge from Byron Smith, Everest 2000 Expedition Leader.

Also in Phase 1, Byron invites students to take part in the first part of the Challenge, the Training for Everest activity.

Students can view a training video featuring Byron's personal trainer Les Gramantik and plan their own training program like a pro! They'll set goals and learn to monitor their heart rate as an indicator for selecting appropriate exercises.

See Training for Everest Challenge for more information and activity instructions.

Phase 2
Students continue with their Training for Everest program.

Phase 3

The new step introduced in this phase is the preparation for the actual "Stairway to Everest" event. Students, in conjunction with their teachers, set goals, choose climbing teams (entire class, whole school or telecollaborative group) and start climbing towards reaching to goal of 29,035 feet in conjunction with the Everest 2000 successful summit attempt in early May.

Students have to organize participants and gather pledges from these participants for the number of stairs they will climb. Individual numbers of stairs climbed will be pooled toward a team goal.

Also in Phase 3, students will decide whether they wish to make their Stairway to Everest event a fund raiser for the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation, a Canadian-based charity organization dedicated to work in Nepal.

This is an optional part of the project, with the money raised being used for Nepalese schools and hospitals, a desperate need in this developing country. For more information on the foundation or fundraising, teachers and students are invited to e-mail the education coordinator at info@everest2000.ca. Please use the subject heading:"Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation".

Phase 4
Students research Nepalese culture and hold pre-climb ceremonies while planning post climb celebrations (to take place in Phase 5). The students' celebrations to mark the success of reaching the goal of 29,035 feet should coincide with the Everest 2000 Expedition's successful summit of Mount Everest (early May).

You may wish to have students participate in online ceremonies and events in celebration of Byron reaching the summit and to celebrate students reaching their goals. Don't forget to make media contacts for publicity articles relating to your event.

Phase 5
Students complete their Stairway to Everest events and contribute to a database documenting the climb. Finally students will perform their post-climb cultural celebrations and have the opportunity to share these events via pictures and reports posted online.