Training to make history
Imagine carrying kit weighing in excess of 100kg, and then running with it on your backs for up to 150 yards in order to take off from the snow and rock covered Himalayan mountainside… and all at oxygen-deprived altitude. The pilots will need to be aerobically fit and physically strong to cope with the weight and altitude.

By the time of the GKN Mission Everest, the pilots will have been doing specific training for six months. As part of this, from March they will do 90-minute sessions each day using re-breather kits to imitate the low oxygen levels found in the air at high altitude. This will help the team acclimatise, as well as preparing them in case a malfunction strands them on a high Himalayan mountain face: the fuller their acclimatisation the greater their chances of survival.