Five years after the first Irish ascent of Mount Everest the leaders of the expedition have initiated a scheme to send young climbers to the Himalaya.
"Adventure can be found around the corner, as well as around the world," Mr Frank Nugent, Everest mountaineer and joint leader of the Irish Antarctic Adventure, said when he publicised the scheme with the help of members of Dublin's Cabra Mountaineering Group yesterday.
The Millennium Youth Initiative, which is backed by the Mountaineering Council of Ireland (MCI), aims to encourage youths between the ages of 15 and 25 from both sides of the Border to take up the pursuit. The programme, which is spearheaded by Irish Everest expedition leader and summiteer Dawson Stelfox and by his deputy leader Frank Nugent in Dublin, is supported by the respective sports councils.
Outlining the details at a reception in the Scout Den in Dublin, Mr Nugent said it was a three-year programme of training courses and climbing trips, designed for young people who had developed an interest and wished to become safe and self-reliant mountaineers.
The programme aims to bridge the gap between schools sports and further participation in adventure pursuits. Mountaineering was "a sport for life" and an activity for all ages, sexes and abilities, he stressed. It was "easily accessible", as little specialist or expensive equipment was required. Some 72 places will be on offer throughout Ireland on initial training courses, based at the two national outdoor pursuits centres in the Wicklow mountains and the Mournes. An integrated group of 36 will receive further training, and a team of 18 will then participate in trips to Britain and Europe. An Irish youth expedition to the Himalaya is planned for 2000.
Applications for the scheme are available from the AFAS House of Sport, Longmile Road, Walkinstown, Dublin 12 (tel:014502805).
