Everest adventure flagged

ONE of the greatest feats undertaken by those who are tough enough to do so is to climb to the summit of the highest mountain in the world – Everest.Tomorrow Mackay’s intrepid adventurer Frank Marchetti will fly out to tackle this challenge, and he will go equipped with a special flag I presented to him recently.Taking on Mount Everest, which rises 8,850 metres above sea level, is a monumental challenge by anyone’s standards, and I applaude Frank for his courage, and persistence.This is his third Everest climb, but the first shot at the summit and I hope that the Australian flag I have presented to him, which is one of those which is flown in the House of Representatives in our Parliament, will be hoisted at some point in June.Mr Marchetti said he had reached the heights of 6450m in 2001, and 7055m in 2010.“It will take between four to six weeks to ascend the last 1800m, and I should be starting that stage in early May,” Mr Marchetti said.The seed was sown for this adventure when he was 12 years old.“I read the book Annapurna by Maurice Herzog,” Mr Marchetti said.“He was the first person to climb an 8000m peak.”