DUBAI: Four teenaged students from Repton School are preparing to summit Italy’s highest mountain, Gran Paradiso, as part of an outdoor educational programme
Ahead of their weeklong expedition, which starts on June 28, Husain Alogaily, Feisel Al Qassimi, Sultan Al Khandri and Pranjal Bachani are undergoing mountaineering training in the UAE.
Preparation
On April 13, they will hike UAE’s highest mountain Jebel Jais in Ras Al Khaimah. “The idea is to acclimatise them with the rigours of high altitude training,” said Everest veteran Stuart McDonald who will lead the students to the 4,061 metre tall Gran Paradiso, located between the Aosta Valley and Piedmont regions in Italy’s Graian Alps.
He said the students will spend a couple of days in Chamonix ahead of the climb to get used to the environment. “They will learn to use ice axes, walk with crampons beneath their shoes and use harness to scale the glaciers during the ascent. Communication is key in a mountain expedition and the students will be given special training for this,” he said.
Emirati Husain Alogaily, 17, an IB2 student said he is excited to embark on the mountain expedition. “I work out for three hours daily to prepare myself for the climb.”
“We will leave for Geneva on June 23 and travel to Chamonix where we will train for a couple of days before making our ascent on 27. We will be sleeping at an altitude of 3,200 meters the night before and start our ascent early in the morning at 3.45 am. We hope to be back on June 30,” said Alogaily.
The school’s outdoor education programme director Graham Malkin, who is also part of the expedition, said the school organises such trips in order to challenge students and take them out of their comfort zones.
“The programmes are designed to challenge students to build on their strengths, recognise their limitations and develop their personality to full potential. It is a great learning experience for students when they are exposed to unfamiliar environments. The learning that comes from such adventure outdoor activities, is not just acquisition of new skills and information but one that has a deeper level of personal understanding. At Repton, we provide a range of activities from hiking, mountaineering, rock climbing, kayaking, canoeing, survival skills, skiing, expeditions for students,” he said.
