Limerick man looks to break Everest record

BREAKING records and climbing Everest are synonymous and tomorrow an Irishman will kickstart his attempt to become the youngest person in the republic to conquer the world’s highest mountain.

After two years of preparation, Limerick’s Mark Quinn will set off in aid of the Shane Geoghegan Trust, which aims to provide children with an alternative to anti-social behaviour through sports and creative activities.

The first Irishman to reach the world’s highest peak was Pat Falvey in 1993, and the youngest was Cork woman Samantha Carroll who reached the summit in 2004, aged 28.

Mark, 26, from Rhebogue, has spent the last few months making final preparations to cope with any difficult situations the mountain may throw at him over the next 10 weeks.

He says: “I recently spent six days on a winter survival course in Scotland and the logistical costs — €10,000 for the permit and around €30,000 for equipment, flights and insurance — have been raised so now I’m just focusing on the mountain itself.”

He says he has been particularly focused on his fitness. “On Sunday, I climbed Croagh Patrick three times, and for my last bit of training I will hopefully climb Carrauntoohill, Galteemore from both sides and Croagh Patrick again, which is good training for summit day.”

An experienced climber, last year Mark reached the summit of Mt Aconcagua in the Argentinean Andes, 6,962m above sea level and the highest point in the world outside of Asia.

* To support the 30,000 feet for Shane campaign visitwww.highaltitudeireland.org/shane.html