A GROUP of North Yorkshire men are heading for the Himalayas to celebrate a special anniversary.

The six-man team will be joining an expedition to mark 50 years since Mount Everest was first climbed.

Richard Johns, from Osbaldwick, York, said: "It will be a great adventure to be part of an international expedition.

"We will be trekking to Everest Base Camp with climbers including South African Sibusisu Vilan, who aims to be the first black man to reach the summit."

The expedition will be led by top American mountaineer Robert Mads Anderson, who has been to Everest on seven previous occasions and was part of a four-man team which pioneered a new route on the 12,000ft Kangshung Face in 1988.

Richard, 46, a journalist at the Evening Press, added: "The expedition will also be joined by Norwegian adventurer Borge Ousland, the first man to travel solo across the Antarctic continent."

Richard's team will be led by Chris Brown, 56, who farms at Baldersby, near Thirsk. Chris reached the summit on his third attempt in 1999, and has stood on the highest peaks of the world's seven continents.

Other members of the North Yorkshire contingent are John Dufton, 52, from Lockton, Pickering, Wayne Brannan, 42, from Clifton Moor, York, Martin Rodgers, 42, from New Earswick, and Chris I'Anson, 41, from Ellingstring, near Masham.

The Everest Golden Jubilee Expedition, organised by Jagged Globe, will leave for Nepal on Sunday, March 23.

Live despatches of the trip will feature on the Sheffield-based mountaineering company's website at www.jagged-globe.co.uk

Updated: 08:16 Thursday, March 13, 2003