Hanesbrands Inc., which is leading Expedition Hanesbrands to climb Mount Everest this spring, said it will take Winston-Salem, N.C. high-school student LaQuishia Stone to visit the worlds highest mountain to inspire other students to set ambitious goals in life.
The 17-year-old Carver High School junior and school guidance counselor Theresa Hamer were selected to represent the school community, affectionately known as Carver Nation, on the expedition after writing essays and conducting interviews with a selection committee. LaQuishias mother, LaShonda Stone, will accompany her daughter.
The roundtrip cultural expedition that will travel through Himalayan Sherpa villages departs April 21 and will take three weeks. If the group makes it to Everest base camp at 17,700 feet, they will get a firsthand glimpse of the staging area for climbing the worlds highest mountain whose summit is 29,035 feet.
LaQuishia and Hamer will communicate from the mountain via written, video, and audio postings on the official Expedition Web site.
I am so excited to go to Mount Everest, LaQuishia said. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience a foreign culture, and something I will remember forever. My friends and family did not believe me at first when I told them I was going to Mount Everest. Now that they know the trip is for real everyone has been sending well-wishes and letting me know they are proud of me for making this journey.
Hanesbrands and the leader of its expedition, international mountaineer Jamie Clarke, challenged Carver High students to join the expedition by writing essays describing their own personal Everests. LaQuishias essay described her dream of becoming a music producer and her goal of sharing lessons from her trip with her classmates for the betterment of Carver Nation.
The trek will be the teens first trip outside of the United States and a world away from her routine in Winston-Salem.
The Carver contingent will experience the nonclimbing aspects of a Mount Everest expedition and Himalayan life. The cultural immersion and learning opportunity, including visits to temples and shopping bazaars and stays in Sherpa lodges, will include several days in Katmandu, the capital of Nepal.
After a short flight from Katmandu to the village of Lukla at 9,250 feet elevation, the team will then undertake a 15-day roundtrip walking trek to Mount Everest base camp for a one-night visit with the climbing team at 17,700 feet-nearly three times higher than Mount Mitchell, the highest point in North Carolina.
The trek traverses the Khumbu Valley, where there are no mechanized vehicles. Commerce and everyday life depend on goods transported by humans and animals, including the ever-present yak. The trekkers will cross suspension bridges, hike along rivers, traverse valleys with vistas of towering Himalayan peaks and visit villages, shopping bazaars and lodges to experience Sherpa culture firsthand.
Hanesbrands and its employees have partnered with Carver High School in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools district for more than 20 years. The company has focused on supporting students academic achievement and citizenship to improve attendance and graduation rates through project funding and employee volunteerism.
