After the outstanding success of this year's North Pole expedition, a Walking with the Wounded team have reached the summit of Manasula in the Himalayas - and now they've set their sights on Mount Everest.
Captain Martin Hewitt from Wilmslow was amongst the seven wounded servicemen to summit the world's 8th highest mountain.
At 1.45pm yesterday, Expedition Manager Captain Martin Hewitt, along with Expedition Leader Russell Brice announced via satellite phone, that seven of the original nine in the Walking with the Wounded team had reached the summit of Manaslu earlier yesterday.
The team suffered a set-back in late September when weather forced them to abort their first summit attempt because thick snow made the climb too dangerous.
Expedition Leader Russell Brice said: "It turned out to be a good year, even though we were first worried that the weather would play tricks on us and we would not reach the summit at all."
The Walking with the Wounded team, which comprises of nine wounded servicemen, left Base Camp five days ago and moved up to a new, higher camp each day until they reached Camp IV on October 3rd. There they liaised with their sherpas who helped them change their oxygen bottles ready for the summit attempt. At 5.30am on October 4th, The Walking with the Wounded team left Camp IV for their second summit attempt.
Martin Hewitt said "It was wonderful to see the team working so well, and moreover to see them climbing through areas that on our first rotation seemed difficult and caused some of the boys a few troubles. I knew as we steamed through Camp I and II, we were in with a chance to summit if the weather held."
The summit team comprised of: Andrew Hawkins, Manindra Rai, Karl Hinnet, David Wiseman, Francis Atkinson along with Walking with the Wounded's North Pole veterans Jaco Van Gass and Martin Hewitt. Two further wounded soldiers did not make the summit due to difficulties at altitude.
After the successful North Pole expedition in April, Walking with the Wounded have set their sights higher. In May 2012, a group of wounded servicemen will attempt a life-changing journey to be the first group of wounded servicemen to successfully summit Mount Everest.
Climbing Everest is considered one of the toughest challenges in adventure exploration and the climbers will be required to overcome a number of obstacles along the way including; altitude sickness, immense fatigue and unpredictable climbing conditions. Few have attempted to conquer this mountain and much fewer have completed it.
The summit of Manaslu was a critical event in the team's training schedule and it will now fall to Russell Brice, Martin Hewitt and charity Founder Edward Parker to select the team for Mt. Everest 2012.
Captain Martin Hewitt was shot in the shoulder during combat in Afghanistan in 2007. The bullet severed an artery and all nerves to the limb leaving his right arm paralysed. Martin, who has recently left the army, strongly believes in inspiring those who have been injured and showing that the wounded are able to complete incredible challenges. Since his injury, he has represented the Combined Services and Great Britain in Adaptive Alpine Ski Racing, as well as going to the North Pole with Walking with the Wounded earlier this year.
Renowned for his enthusiastic dance style and outrageous parachute regiment humour, Martin aims to maintain high spirits amongst the group.
Charity Founder Ed Parker said "I am deeply proud of the Walking with the Wounded team, and this achievement, summiting the world's 8th highest peak just 800m lower than Mt. Everest, it is a wonderful achievement for the team and embodies the spirit and tenacity of wounded servicemen and women all over the world.
"Whilst summiting Manaslu is an incredible individual achievement, this is only part tof a build up to the big event. The team have some way to go before they will be ready for Mt. Everest 2012, the year of Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee."
Walking with the Wounded aims to raise money to re-skill and re-train injured servicemen and women from the British Armed Forces. They hope to raise a further £2m for identified education projects and training courses, which specifically account for both physical and mental injuries sustained by servicemen and women.
