In an effort to raise money for a good cause, University of Lethbridge students and others will be climbing Mt. Everest this weekend.

Well, sort of.

On Saturday, Feb. 27, the U of L Climbing Club and U of L Rotaract Club will co-host The Everest Challenge, which will see participants try to climb the equivalent height of Mt. Everest at the Ascent Climbing Centre, located in the 1st Choice Savings Centre for Sport and Wellness.

"The club has been trying to raise awareness of climbing as a sport for a while now," says club president David Cassidy. "This seemed like a good way to do that. Then my dad mentioned that if we were going to do it, why not raise some money at the same time?"

Ascent Climbing Centre has donated the full use of the climbing wall for the day to run this event. The U of L Climbing Club and Rotaract Club will recruit 13 teams of three people to climb. Each team will to pay a $50 sign up fee and are encouraged to get pledges for their team.

Starting at noon on Saturday,Feb. 27, each team will be expected to complete 45 climbs per team or 15 climbs per person. If each team completes the challenge we will have collectively climbed the elevation of Mount Everest from sea level.

The event will raise money and awareness for "Uphill Both Ways," an organization created by a local Lethbridge family.

The organization is an education relief fund that is non-denominational, not for profit, and focused on education and health care development for children in communities of Nepal. U of L students Janelle Pritchard and Drew Andreachuk are both in Nepal working hard to help this cause with money that they have already raised.