Army Special Ops team set sights on taming Everest after toughest selection and alpine training
A group of special ops soldiers are taking on the ultimate climbing challenge – Everest.
The team from the Ranger Regiment is aiming to reach the summit in April 2026 with the mantra: It's the same as any operation.
The Rangers operate at high readiness and are away 50% of the time on small, discreet operations across the world's hotspots.
The Everest team has already faced a selection process which included climbing in Wales and gaining a mountaineering qualification in the Alps.
They now face months of altitude and cold exposure, strength training and long hikes.
Major Joe Adamson, commanding officer of the expedition, said: "We're preparing for the mountain, and dealing with the mountain is the same as any operation and that's how we'll deal with it, and from a physical and mental side, we're preparing for the Olympics.
"We're really fortunate in the brigade to take a soldier through a really rigorous selection process that gives us a really motivated individual, and we deploy them on really high-end operations across the globe so when we were talking about having an ambition expedition, it really naturally came to the highest peak of them all – Everest – to test our people.
"We went to Snowdonia, which is where [Sir Edmund] Hillary prepared for the first successful ascent, which tested against elements the team will experience on Everest."
The team of eight is being funded by sponsorship and grants, including one from the charitable fund of BFBS, BFBS Forces News' parent charity.
It seems the toughest part of the expedition could be fitting it into their already busy day jobs.
But Maj Adamson sees adventure training (AT) as a proving ground.
"We see the real power of our people when you put them in really testing positions," he said.
"I'm really passionate that AT and specifically these ambitious expeditions continue as a way to develop our leaders outside of operations."
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