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Local cadet headed to Everest

By: Randall King

Posted: 09/29/2010 11:28 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

It will be the trip of a lifetime for Lucas Mayo.

An 18-year-old Winnipeg army cadet will join 15 other cadets to ascend to the base camp at Mount Everest, not because it's there but "because it's going to be fun and it's going to be challenging."

So says Army Cadet Warrant Officer Lucas Mayo of Winnipeg, who was selected from cadets across Canada to participate in the Royal Canadian Army Cadet International Expedition in the Mount Everest region of Nepal.

They will not climb to the summit of Everest, the highest mountain in the world, but since the base camp is located at an altitude of 5,360 metres (17,590 ft), the journey should be sufficiently challenging.

"It's almost five-and-a-half kilometres up," he says. "It's pretty huge."

Mayo, who resides in Charleswood, learned about the opportunity in early 2009 and promptly applied for the expedition. His adventurous itinerary has him departing Winnipeg next week on Oct. 7 to travel to Toronto to meet with the rest of the expedition members. Upon arrival in Nepal, they will begin their journey with an acclimatization day and a mountain biking tour of Kathmandu. The days ahead will have them trek in Lukla and various other locations, participate in a cultural visit to Khumjung and Kunde Sherpa Village, and hike/climb to the Everest Base Camp, followed by glacier training and white-water rafting on the Trisuli River.

The cadets will be accompanied on their adventure by four members of the Cadet Instructor Cadre (CIC).

Mayo, 18, has been an army cadet for five years as a member of the 2701 Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, Royal Canadian Army Cadet Corps based at Kapyong Barracks.

"We are all very proud of Warrant Officer Mayo," says his Commanding Officer Captain Melanie Turko. "Lucas put in a lot of hard work and dedication to attain this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

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