Hello from 20,000ft!

The students and teachers e-mailed pictures of themselves direct from the rugged snow-capped peak of Stok Kangri in the Himalayas.

The delighted nine-strong team could share their success with eager friends and family standing by computer terminals in the comfort of home via the latest technology.

But shortly after their link-up to Bolton, the team were involved in a life-or-death scare.

After climbing down from the summit to their advanced base camp, the team found a member of their Indian support party, Dharam Kirti dangerously ill with mountain sickness.

Expedition leaders Dave Watkinson and Ian Ray had to quickly administer first aid to save the guide's life.

A stretcher was arranged to take the Indian officer back down the mountain to hospital and he is now recovering.

In an e-mail to the BEN one of the expedition leaders, Mike Evans told of the party's thrill at reaching the mountain's summit after a final climb lasting over four and a half hours.

"It was both exhilarating and also quite exhausting but we were very pleased that all of us managed it," he said.

After the summit achievement the group then faced a further six hour walk back to the bottom.

They are now enjoying a rest in the nearby town of Leh before heading back to England on Saturday.

Climbing the mountain, which is in the Ladakh range of mountains close to the Kashmir/Indian border, is the outdoor pursuits department's most ambitious project.

Previous trips have been to Norway and Peru but this is the first time they have taken hi-tech communications with them, including a digital camera, laptop computer and satellite telephone.

A diary of their progress plus pictures has regularly been put on their own website and can be viewed at www.bsop.org.uk.

And department members are already planning more adventures for next year with canoeing in Canada, ski mountaineering in Norway and a parents' expedition to Peru.