SERC Lecturer Takes on Mount Everest Adventure

Petra Armstrong, a lecturer and course coordinator who teaches the Level 3 National Extended Diploma in Sport and Outdoor Activities at South Eastern Regional College (SERC), has recently embarked on a once in a lifetime hiking experience to the base camp of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain.

A qualified mountain leader, outside her time at SERC, Petra runs the female led ‘Wild Mountain NI’ hiking tour company alongside close friend Cathy Reavy. The pair teamed up with Namaste Nomad, a team of adventure professionals, and were given the opportunity to lead a group of 28 hikers from across Ireland up the mountain in April.

Petra, along with the group of hikers, spent 8 days hiking up Mount Everest to reach base camp, trekking a total of 5,364 metres. This was followed by an extra stretch of 276 metres up Kala Patthar, a small trekking peak, which opens serene views of Mount Everest.

Speaking on her experience, Petra (from Bangor) says,

“We started off our journey by flying from Dublin to Kathmandu, the adventure capital of Nepal. We then took an internal flight to Tenzing-Hillary airport in Lukla, which is considered the most dangerous airport in the world.

“From here, we began our trek to Everest base camp. It took us 8 days to reach, as there are no roads and just trekking paths between villages. We stayed at teahouses along the route which provided basic accommodation along with meals. After arriving at Everest Base Camp (5,364 metres), I also climbed the nearby Kalapatthar (reaching a total of 5,640metres trekked) to watch sunrise over Everest. It took us 4 days of trekking to return, and we covered a total of 130km.”

She concludes, “Overall, I had an amazing experience. It was great to get an insight into the different culture, while walking along one of the most scenic trekking routes with the highest mountains in the world all around us.”