Not only does Lethbridge College business instructor Carolyn Clark walk 250 kilometres every week, she is also an avid dragon boater, and a cyclist.

In April 2012 Clark and eight others will be heading to Nepal to trek up Mount Everest. The 14-day hike will not only be a physical accomplishment for Clark; a high school will also be erected in Nepal as a result.

“For many children in Phaplu [Nepal], they are only able to attend school until Grade 8. Most families can’t afford to educate their children any further,” Clark says.

To prepare, Clark and her team members have been hiking in Waterton and Many Glaciers each weekend.

Clark also personally walks around five kilometers every day.

The trek up will take about 14 days.“It will take nine days to get up the mountain and about four or five to get back down, depending on rest days and everyone’s physical fitness,” Clark says.

Although team has been exercising and committing to weekly aerobics classes, “There is no way to prepare for the altitude,” Clark says.

Recently the team headed to Calgary and met Sir Edmond Hillary, the first person to summit Mount Everest and founder of the Sir Edmond Hillary Foundation, which will build the school.

In two weeks the group will meet Laurie Skreslet, the first Canadian to summit the treacherous mountain.

He will be doing evaluations of the group’s ability to physically handle the trek, as well as determine their fitness level.

In January the group will complete an altitude safety course. It will teach the members to gauge whether or not someone is suffering from altitude sickness and how to treat it.

The group will need to take mandatory “rest days” due to the altitude.

The trek begins with a flight to Hong Kong. From there the group flies to Kathmandu and then into Phaplu, where the school will be constructed. The group then travels to Lukla, which is where the walking begins.