#EverestRugbyChallenge

Every year we see some pretty incredible challengers head off to complete ultra marathons, climb mountains, cycle the length of the Americas, swim lakes and oceans, and do some all round awesome things, as well as a few Guinness World Records!

We recently had a visit from some famous faces in the world of Rugby for their training…

The Challenge

Two World Record Attempts

1. The highest game of full contact rugby, ever (6500m)
2. The highest game of mixed tag rugby, ever (6500m)

The Captains

Recognise any of these faces?

Team Captains for the challenge are none other than international rugby players, Lee Mears, Ollie Phillips, Shane Williams and Tamara Taylor. Just a few international caps between them!

The Testing

To prepare the team for their climb, we took them through our Mountaineering Consultation to test their current health status, their sensitivity to altitude, and their susceptibility to altitude sickness to give them an indication of just how their body will react to high altitude.

Once the testing is complete, the training begins.

The Training

Training for such a challenge brings a range of areas to focus on. To complete the trek, you need to be in good physical shape. To cope with the altitude, you need to be well acclimatised. But to play rugby when you reach that altitude, you need to take this to the next level.

The Everest Rugby Challengers have started with a bang, as we put them through their paces to kickstart their journey to the highest ever rugby match just last week. Check out some of the photos below as the team started their 6-Week Mountaineering Programme with us here at The Altitude Centre in prep for the big game.

The 6-week programme that they will be completing is based on the case study we completed last year, which showed proven results in improving fitness, strength, and tolerance to altitude in just 6-weeks. It utilises both exercise sessions at altitude, and passive IHE sessions for acclimatisation to higher altitudes in order to improve your bodies tolerance to low oxygen, and therefore your performance at altitude.

For those that aren’t London based, they will complete the same training from home through our rentals. They even have the option of sleeping at altitude to take their acclimatisation to the next level!

Want to find out more about their challenge, or donate to the cause? Check out their challenge page here!