News Story

Lorenzo Summits Everest

Chris Valentine, Thursday 25 May 2006

Italian Lorenzo Gariano summited Everest on the morning of 21st May, but the achievement has been severely dented by the loss of two members of the team. Climbing again with experienced Russian Alex Abramov and Dutchman Harry Kikstra, the teams travelled through war-torn Kathmandu on their way to Base Camp in Tibet for a North Ridge assault. ex-Russian army man Igor Plyushkin perished at Camp 2 at 7800m and later visually-impaired German Thomas Weber died near the Second Step above 8000m having lost his sight completely.

Lorenzo, whose first contact with KMi was to maintain our indoor plant displays, is an expert climber and hopes to achieve “The Seven Summits” – climbing the tallest peak on each of the seven continents. Having now achieved Everest, the second time around, he has just Vinson Massif (Antarctica) and The Carstensz Pyramid (Indonesia) left to do.

Some of the history of KMi&#39s support for this heroic and dangerous endeavor can be seen in the extreme webcasting project work below. Our thoughts are with him and the team today.