Brits Break Altitude Dining Record

The high altitude dining record has - provisionally - been cracked again, this time by a group of Brits who conducted a formal dinner party at 6,805 metres on Lhakpa Ri.

The group of six white tie-clad climbers, mainly from mountainous East Sussex, set out to eclipse the two previous high altitude dining records and to raise money for the British Lung Foundation into the bargain.

Dining out at 6805 metres - www.shelford.net

They actually climbed as high as 7,045 metres but were, according to the BBC, forced to descend to a more sheltered dining area at lower altitudes to tuck into their meal which included caviar, duck, chocolate pudding, a cheese board and birthday cake.

We're not sure they actually grabbed the record though. A couple of years back, a Kiwi team dined on the summit of Aconcagua in Argentina, a height of 6960 metres, so while the Brits may have climbed higher, it seems like they dined lower, though the British menu sounds tastier on balance - see previous OM articles below for more high altitude dining. We're guessing though that the Kiw dinner was never ratified by the Guinness Book of Records..

The whole mad thing started ages ago with a dinner on Huascaran (6785 metres) we think, chronicled in the book 'The Social Climbers', their mark was eclipsed by the Kiwis on Aconcagua and now this.

You can see the BBC report here or for the full terrifying monty, go straight to the horse's mouth and check out the team's own web site.