Firefighter to tackle Everest

A firefighter from Milton Keynes will be taking on the challenge of a lifetime by climbing Mount Everest.

Crew Manager Marty McHugh, a Retained Duty System firefighter based at Broughton Fire Station, will be tackling the 8,800 metre mountain in Asia in May.

Marty, 44, who joined Buckinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service in 1993, said: “It will be an ambition coming true for me as mountaineering is my passion.

“I have many summits under my belt such as Kilimanjaro, Elbrus in the Russian Caucasus mountain range and most of the British peaks.”

“As well as the personal satisfaction, I am also hoping to raise £1 for every metre climbed to boost The Fire Fighters Charity funds.”

Marty, director of local business Piper Scaffolding, will be joined by 11 climbers, five of which he has climbed with before on previous expeditions around the world including America, Australia, Finland, Norway and Canada.

Starting at base camp, 5,300 metres above sea level, the team will be faced with many testing situations from glaciers to crevasses, large cliffs to shifting ice blocks, all while trying to cope with the change in altitude causing lack of oxygen, exhaustion and extreme temperatures.  

Marty added: “In order to get used to the change in oxygen levels we will be climbing high and then sleeping low and resting all the way up the Kumbu Valley and on the mountain itself.

“The human body will not acclimatise above 8,000m, more commonly known as the Death Zone, and we will then be using supplementary oxygen to combat the low level of available air supply for the final push to the summit.

“The trip will take 70 days in total. We will arrive at base camp on day 13 and aim to summit between days 36 and 50 depending on weather, fitness, number of climbers waiting to summit and acclimatisation. It takes just over a day to get back to base camp from the summit.”

Some of the training tactics Marty has employed are a little unusual.

“The training that I will do in this country is for strength and stamina,” he said. “I am using a combination of running, walking, cycling and swimming to help prepare myself.

“I have even taken to walking up stairs in multi-storey car parks with a rucksack full of sand then running down the ramp, getting some funny looks.”

He will raise money for The Fire Fighters, which provides assistance to serving and retired fire and rescue service staff, their families and dependants.

To sponsor Marty visit his JustGiving site at www.justgiving.com/Martin-On-Everest.