Federico Jovine, Ivan Gomez and Karim Mella are the first Dominicans to attempt to scale Mount Everest as part of a project to climb seven of the world's highest mountains since 2004 known as Siete Cimas. The mountaineers on 27 March began the climb by spending a month's training at the three camps at Mount Everest to acclimatize their body to the extreme temperatures.
The hike is programmed for 10 May. The 8,850-meter mountain is the highest in the world. "Whoever starts the hike using their own feet needs to come down the same way," they said. The bodies of climbers who died in the attempt can be seen along the climb.
The group has already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa's highest mountain at 5,895 meters or 19,341 ft (2005), Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest mountain in the Americas at 6,962m (22,841 ft (2006) and Mount Elbrus, the highest peak in the Russian Caucasus at 5,642 meters (18,510 ft) (2009). They got their start in mountaineering locally practicing at the Duarte Peak, the highest in the Caribbean at 10,000 ft -- Ivan Gomez has 47 ascents, Federico Jovine has 52 ascents, and Karim Mella has 47 ascents.
The budget for the 2011 climb is RD$11,340,000. The registration fee alone for each climber is US$25,000.
Previously, climbers from Mexico, Argentina, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala and Puerto Rico from Latin America and the Caribbean have climbed Mt. Everest.