In March, ten men and women, eight of them XL employees, embarked on the XL Charity Challenge, a 57-mile, 14-day trek to the base camp of Earth's highest point: Mount Everest in Nepal. Some were experienced adventurers, while others were complete novices. What united them was a desire to raise funds for the Bermuda-based Kathmandu Kids Club, which in turn raises funds for the ISIS Foundation's Nepal projects.

Months of training helped prepare the group for the physical and mental challenges ahead. They knew that such luxuries as comfortable hotel rooms, with showers and hot and cold running water, would not be part of the daily experience. Then there was the issue of navigating steep, rocky paths and endless steps, vertiginous suspension bridges, penetrating cold, and the effects of high altitude, but whatever personal reservations they may have harboured before the journey paled beside their common goal to help the 130 Nepalese children rescued from extreme poverty and now cared for in one of the ISIS Foundation's ten children's homes.

As so often happens, however, reality usually differs from what is envisaged. These are the experiences of four participants.

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Christine Doughty raised approximately $13,500. "Awesome" was the favourite term used to describe the scenery along the challenging 130-km route, with its steep up and down hills, and rough, dusty paths shared with Sherpas and yaks transporting supplies to villages. The sheer size and majestic beauty of the mountain ranges, the swing bridges across great valleys, waterfalls and dramatic vistas impressed her deeply.

In terms of fitness, Ms Doughty says that despite the difficulties of training for altitude at sea level in Bermuda, she thought the group did a remarkable job of staying sane and healthy at greater heights.

"Once you got to 5,357 metres (17,575 feet) there was no way you needed to do anything else except to get down — and fast!"

The last two days before reaching the base camp were particularly hard and strenuous, and required "determination of mind and body to just physically make it".

"You were so out of breath at that level that you had to be careful that the sheer exhilaration of taking in the magnificence of the surrounding mountains, and standing on the cold, hard Khumbu glacier, did not finish you off there and then," Ms Doughty says.

To cope with the altitude, she developed a slow, rhythmic uphill walk and breathing pattern, with short pauses to re-energise, and "literally bounded down the downhill bits".

"Hiking poles were helpful (for staving off advancing yaks), and having the right clothing and good boots meant survival — thanks to carefully researched Christmas gifts from family members."

Even so, the trekker found the weather "challenging and extreme — very cold, minus F temperatures at night with ice on your tents, but once in the sun the temperature rose quickly to 68 degrees F. Thus the importance of having the right clothing and a good day-pack for storage.

Awakened at 6.30 a.m. with green tea and a cheerful 'Namaste' (Good morning) through the tent flap from the Sherpa guides, the day's trekking began at 8 a.m. Acclimatisation meant climbing higher each day and descending to a lower level to sleep at night. This involved a very steep afternoon climb, which the group dubbed 'a Nepalese plain'.

Like everyone else, as a creature of comfort Ms Doughty struggled to survive the primitive hygiene arrangements, and fought constantly with her sleeping bag, "which also contained any item you did not wish to freeze overnight, e.g. camera, batteries, creams".

"Facilities were raw and basic, and as long as you didn't take your clothes off you remained relatively odourless... but very long showers were taken at the hotel at the end of the journey," she says.

Apart from 'gyppy tum' for a couple of days into the trip, Ms Doughty was surprised to have no other physical problems, given the long hours of trekking, and the exhaustion from lack of oxygen and altitude, but confesses she "could have done with another set of lungs at times".

Unlike some in her group, she actually enjoyed the long swing bridges over deep ravines, but admits it was not a journey for the faint-hearted, or those with vertigo.

In terms of camaraderie, Ms Doughty describes her fellow trekkers as "a really great group' who shared many good laughs and mutual commiserations where needed.

"Our Sherpa guides and camp staff were wonderful, caring people whom we all got to know well over the 14 days," she says. "The cook baked us a cake the night we returned from the base camp with the message in bright red icing, 'Well Done Barmuda', and again on our last night, also in bright red icing, 'Come Back Again'."

She first saw Mount Everest from afar four days into the trek, and again at intervals as the group rounded other mountains. Enveloped in swirling clouds more often than not, it couldn't be seen directly from the base camp.

"The best views were from Kalapathar, a further 300m up, but I found the whole Himalayan range so incredible and magnificent. I had a particular affiliation with one mountain, Ama Dablam (Mother with open arms), which loomed great and near on our right as we ascended, and remained on our left as we descended."

Describing the last day as "the most emotional", Ms Doughty recalls her reaction on meeting the children in the ISIS Kathmandu home.

"All 136 kids were brought together to provide us with a morning of singing and dancing, followed by a Nepalese lunch sitting around the grounds. They are healthy, happy, attending schools, and now provided with links back to their families of origin — an enormous change compared to the pathetic state in which they were found when rescued from the traffickers.

"In the afternoon we were taken into the rural backstreets of Kathmandu to visit one of the Women's' Foundation shelters. This is a group which supports women and children who have been victims of domestic violence. These shelters house abandoned families so they can recover and train to regain skills, earn money and confidence in order to move into new, supportive communities. Again, we were warmly greeted with smiling faces, singing and dancing, and lots of hugs and kisses as we departed for the airport in the late afternoon for the long, 36-hour return trip to Bermuda."

Asked if she would do a similar trek again, Ms Doughty replied: "I would certainly return to that part of Asia, but with a little more horizontal and less vertical trekking next time."

Megan Kempe raised $19,850. Despite being happy with her advance preparations, she still found the going tough. She was expecting "just dirt paths" so was very surprised to find that not only was a portion of the trail laid with stone but also the sheer number of steps it had. Breathing at altitude was not as difficult as she anticipated, although when she called her husband from the base camp he said it sounded as if she was on her death bed!

In terms of the cold, with hindsight, Mrs. Kempe remembers it as "refreshing" but while on location admits it was "freezing" and she would have "traded anything for the heat of August in Bermuda".

"Most days were clear and started cool, warming by midday. As long as the sun was up, it was great. Once the sun went down, or behind a cloud, it got remarkably cold," she says.

The group walked about seven hours every day, and met other trekkers on the way. Incredibly, Mrs. Kempe's Red Sox baseball cap caught the eye of a Boston trekker, as a result of which they discovered they shared a mutual Bermudian friend.

In terms of the trek itself, Mrs. Kempe says the height of the first bridge the group crossed was "scary, but the rest was exhilarating".

"I tried to look at the land on the other side, but got a total rush looking down, even if it was for only a split second."

Despite suffering very bad knee pain on the descent, she confirms the trek was definitely worth it.

"Seeing Everest was so exciting. I kept telling myself that I saw the top of the world. I found it all very awe-inspiring — how big the world is, and how small each of us really is."

Mrs. Kempe has high praise for the group camaraderie, and misses seeing them all every day.

Not only would she do a trek again, but already she has begun to organise another Charity Challenge trek for 2009 to benefit the Kathmandu Kids Club, and says anyone interested in participating should visit website www.kathmandukidsclub.com for further information.

Visiting the children's home in Kathmandu is something she will never forget.

"The children were inspiring. They had the most beautiful and hopeful smiles I have ever seen on anybody," she says.

Jennie Lee O'Donnell raised a whopping $59,043 (and counting) which made her the group's top fundraiser, thanks to a full colour leaflet and pledge form she created and mailed to family and friends. She attributes her success to fantastic donors, their appreciation of the work done by the Kathmandu Kids Club in Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world; and the unlikely prospect of a 40-year-old, relatively unfit, stay-at-home mother undertaking such a venture.

As for the trek itself, Mrs. O'Donnell found the terrain "incredibly varied... and all very rugged".

"At times we climbed stone steps for hours at a time, and at other times we had to walk carefully to avoid slipping and sliding down steep, dusty trails," she remembers. "Some parts of the trail were narrow cuts into a mountainside, some wound across tundra-like high plains, while others had us clambering over boulders in a glacial moraine. Considering these trails are the only routes in and out of the area from village to village, it is little wonder that everything needs to be carried on the backs of human porters or loaded on to yaks, the only beasts of burden rugged enough to survive in the tough climate of that altitude. Not even a wheelbarrow would make it on those trails," she says.

The 'elevation gain' of the 57-mile round trip route was approximately 13,900 feet — a figure Mrs. O'Donnell says was "deceiving, as many days we descended for a good part of the day and then climbed again to camp higher up by the following evening".

Her 16-week, pre-trek training programme stood her in good stead, while en route she and her fellow companions drank five litres of water a day, and incorporated up to 70 percent starch in their diet. A typical dinner included garlic soup (supposedly good for altitude) potatoes, rice, pasta and vegetables.

The group rarely discussed how many miles they had hiked each day, talking instead in terms of hours. On a typical day they rose at 6 a.m., packed up the camp, and following a 7 a.m. breakfast were on the trail again by 8 a.m. Lunch breaks were approximately an hour long, with arrival at the new campsite being around 4:30 p.m.

Like other trekkers, Mrs. O'Donnell found conditions en route "challenging".

"The triple whammy of cold, primitive camping conditions and altitude made the average of six plus hours of hiking very challenging, but the amazing scenery was distracting, the positive attitude of the guides infectious, and the support of our fellow team members motivating," she says.

The weather was "fairly consistent", with cold, clear mornings and cloudy afternoons.

"It was 50 degrees F when we arrived in Lukla, dropping to about 40 degrees F at night. After about a week, it snowed lightly — mostly at night — for the next four days. By the time we reached Gorak Shep, the camp closest to Everest base camp, it was closer to 20-30 degrees F in the day, and much colder at night. Any item in your tent which you didn't sleep with in your sleeping bag was frozen solid in the morning. The outside of your sleeping bag and the inside of the tent were covered in frost in the morning as well," Mrs. O'Donnell remembers.

Meeting and conversing with other trekkers revealed their ages ranged from 20s to the 70s, and many were making the journey independently. However, she was glad her group was led by experienced guides.

Like the others, she too found the lack of bathing facilities challenging, "especially since it was extremely cold, and exposing any part of yourself to wash up in a freezing cold tent was a hardship".

"On the other hand, we were all wearing so many clothes, that the lack of hygiene was more evident to yourself than it was to others. We all had some interesting hairdos by the end of two weeks without shampoo."

Altitude headaches and nausea were a problem toward the end of the outward trek, and there were days when every step and all simple tasks, even packing her gear in the mornings, seemed monumental — so much so, in fact, that Mrs. O'Donnell worried whether or not she would even make it to the base camp.

"A positive mental attitude was the only weapon I had in my arsenal," she says. "The day we made it to base camp (altitude 17,600 ft), and the following day, when a group of us climbed even higher to the Kala Pattar mountain (altitude 18,200 ft), with its outstanding view of Mt. Everest and the surrounding peaks, pushed me to the very brink of my endurance. It took me over three and one half hours to climb to Kala Pattar in 12-inch increments — the length of my size ten women's boots. It was then physically grueling to climb down for an hour and a half and then hike six hours to the next campsite further down the valley — but it was an amazing feeling to have done it."

"Terrifying" is how she remembers the swaying metal suspension bridges crossing raging rivers hundreds of feet below. "All I can say is that a line of sharp-horned, cranky, heavily-laden yaks behind you gives you a huge motivation to keep moving."

Despite all the tribulations of this rugged fundraising adventure, the 20-year age range, and the different nationalities, the group ensured that everyone made it to base camp. They laughed about the 'bathroom facilities', lack of hygiene and privacy, and found delight in their Nepalese guides who, in addition to their professionalism and experience, were extremely cheerful and funny.

A distant, first glimpse of the peak of Mount Everest very early in the trek "fired up" Mrs. O'Donnell in the days and miles to come, and seeing it from the base camp was an emotional experience.

"Everest is a scary-looking mountain with all the snow blasted off its north and western faces by the incredibly high winds," she says. "It was hard when you looked at it not to think of all the many stone memorials to foreign climbers and local Sherpas that we had passed, all of them dedicated to those who died trying to summit Everest. Just being at the base camp and seeing the infamous Khumbu Ice Fall, which is the first hurdle to the summit, was very exciting and inspiring."

Given the chance, this busy mother of three would "return to Nepal tomorrow if my husband would agree to babysit".

"When my daughters are older, I hope to return with my family to trek again," she says. "I found Nepal an amazing destination, filled with incredible scenery and beautiful people. The trek to Everest base camp is a challenging hike with tremendous rewards."

Visiting one of the ISIS children's homes in Kathmandu was another unforgettable experience.

"We were welcomed by the children like royalty, with flower garlands and silk scarves called 'kata', which had been blessed by the local lama. It was very emotional, and many of us were moved almost to tears. The children performed local Nepalese dances for us in colourful costumes. Then, overcoming their shyness, they proudly showed us around their clean, cheerful homes, and introduced their caregivers as 'didis' (Nepalese for 'aunts'). The boys and girls, aged approximately four to 17, chatted with us in halting English, tugged at our hands, hugged us and played simple hand games.

"As we sat sharing a meal with these smiling and affectionate children it was hard to imagine the same 130 children in the squalid, desperate conditions in which they had been found just over two years before. The ISIS homes were truly homes, not institutions, with spotless, light, airy rooms, and walls filled with children's art, letters and schoolwork. The caregivers explained that the ISIS homes programme is so successful that it is currently being studied as a model for child care in Asia. "

Nick (Yak Cheese) Pewter raised $18,000. A man whose wit was apparently unimpaired by the altitude, remembers the terrain as "smooth, like a baby's bottom — all 130 kilometres of it".

He says his pre-trek fitness and dietary preparations might have proved more effective had he succeeded in his attempt to 'summit' McGall's Hill. In Nepal, he confesses his legs "felt like concrete", his head "pounded for hours on end", and his bladder "constantly felt like it was going to explode".

"Nicotine and Nepalese whiskey" allegedly helped him adjust to the thinner air and cold, while he was "under the impression that most of my ascent would be downhill and I had to purchase new footwear".

His remedy for conquering a fear of heights was "The Old Testament", while "Baby Wipes" helped him cope with hygiene issues. Unlike his fellow trekkies, Mr. Pewter claims he "was able to hang-glide most of the way. The rest of the group was not impressed". Group camaraderie was "like codfish and potatoes — a perfect combination"; his memories will "last a lifetime", and yes, he will "do it again one day".

Asked for his impression of Mt. Everest, he defers to the late Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to reach the summit: "It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves."

Yet it is the visit to the children's home supported by ISIS, and for which he helped to fundraise, that Mr. Pewter is at his most eloquent.

"The most beautiful, gracious children you'll ever lay your eyes on," he says. "Their eyes sparkled with joy when we met them, and it was then that I felt I had accomplished something bigger than the mountain."

• A special evening is planned for June 5 at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, at which the above trekkers will speak. There will also be presentations by ISIS Foundation co-founder Audette Exel, and Claire Underhill, ISIS volunteer at the Kiwoko Hospital in Uganda. Delicious Nepalese food, wine and beautiful handmade items from Nepal and Uganda will also be available. For further information see today's Bermuda Calendar.