Hungarian mountaineers Zsolt Erőss, Lajos Kollár, Péter Kiss and Slovak national Jaroslav Dudka, as part of the ‘Hungarians on peaks over 8000 metres’ initiative, plan to climb the world’s third highest peak, the Kanchenjunga.

At a joint press conference on Tuesday, Minister of State for Sport István Simicskó emphasised that this latest expedition is a great challenge, carrying a positive message for everyone. It is important to support the courageous people, exploring the world and gaining knowledge, he added. The Ministry of Human Resources supports the expedition with 4 million forints.

Zsolt Erőss, climbing with a prosthetic leg since 2010, explained that they will establish four camps:  base camp will be around 5500 metres, two camps between 6000 and 7000 metres and one above 7000 metres. The team also plans to lay wreaths at the tomb of the Hungarian philologist and orientalist Sándor Csoma de Kőrös in Darjeeling, who is world-famous for being the author of the first Tibetan-English dictionary and grammar book.

The ‘Hungarians on peaks over 8000 metres’ was initiated in 2002 by Zsolt Erőss, Lajos Kollár and László Mécs, following their successful summit to Everest, with the aim of Hungarians climbing the world’s 14 peaks, over 8000 metres. So far the team has conquered 11, leaving only Kanchenjunga, Annapurna and K2.

(Ministry of Human Resources)