THE Walking With The Wounded team have been practising some of the skills they will need to climb Mount Everest.
Swindon Army doctor Captain Francis Atkinson, 31, and the other current and former soldiers have been testing crucial kit such as harnesses, crampons and safety clips.
Four of the five injured servicemen in the team hoping to reach the 8,848m summit made the short walk from Mount Everest Base Camp to a training area two mountain guides had created.
Former British soldier and mountaineering expert Harry Taylor, 53, and Everest legend Mark ‘Woody’ Woodward, 48, of New Zealand, set up a 10m vertical ice climb as well as a fixed rope course.
Although the conditions will not be identical to those further up the mountain, it was an opportunity for Cpt Atkinson, Pte Jaco van Gass, 25, Captain David Wiseman, 29, Cpt Martin Hewitt and Karl Hinett, 25, to practice some of their skills.
Mount Everest is rigged with a fixed rope that climbers use as both a guide and a safety measure on the ascent.
Walking With The Wounded aims to raise money to help other injured servicemen and women readjust to civilian life after they leave the armed forces.
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