Shoreham children climb 'Everest' in memory of Rob Gauntlett
YOUNGSTERS at a Shoreham school have climbed the height of Everest to remember explorer Rob Gauntlett.
Although year-six pupils at Buckingham Park Primary could not make the trip to climb the world's tallest mountain, they reached the equivalent height of 8,848 metres (5 miles) on the school's climbing frame.
Each of the 106 children in year six climbed the frame at least 25 times to help reach the target.
Year-six teacher, Margaret Hamerton, said: "It was fabulous.
"We had a final ascent to the summit during assembly, when eight of our best climbers climbed to the top of the frame.
"All the kids rose to the challenge."
Tribute
The event was in memory of explorer Mr Gauntlett, who had agreed – shortly before his death while climbing in the French Alps in January – to visit the school and talk about mountaineering as part of the children's spring topic.
Mr Gauntlett became the youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest in 2006.
Mrs Hamerton said: "It was our way of commemorating him and celebrating why people love mountaineering."
The idea for the climb came after the children did a maths project calculating how many times they would have to climb the 3.5 metre frame in their school hall to reach the top of Everest.
"The children really generated the exercise from start to finish," said Mrs Hamerton.
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Tuesday 14 February 2012
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