VietNamNet Bridge – Over a thousand people arrived at Military Zone 7 Stadium in Tan Binh District last Sunday to tryout for the upcoming reality show "Everest Vietnam 2008."

Prospective "Everest Vietnam 2008" contestants struggle to climb the rope during last Sunday's auditions.

A majority of the would-be contestants were young men, while a third were young women. The audition was organized by Lasta Co.

Huynh Van Van, production director of the program, said that this is not only the first large-scale mountain climbing event to take place in Vietnam, but also the first reality show to capture the Vietnamese peoples' quest to conquer the world's highest mountain.

The year-long television program will consist of two phases: the first phase will allow contestants to hone their skills by climbing smaller peaks, while the second phase will focus on the Everest expedition. 20 contestants from throughout the country will begin the journey, but only four will be given the opportunity to actually attempt to summit Everest.

Sherpas, an ethnic group residing in the Himalayas, will train and assist the Vietnamese climbers during their Everest summit, said the program's organizer.

In addition to the Sherpas, the crew will be comprised of two cameramen. They are a Thai who climbed to Camp Four, the closet additional camp to Everest's summit besides the base camp that provides food and shelter to climbers in this mountain, and an American journalist from the National Geographic who conquered Everest once before, Van told the Daily.

Phase one will begin at Mount Fan Si Pan in Vietnam, which stands at 3,144 m. 12 contestants will be eliminated after the Mount Fan Si Pan climb.

Next, contestants will head to Malaysia to climb Mount Gunung Kinabalu, which stands at 4,101m. Two contestants will be eliminated after the climb in Malaysia.

The remaining six contestants will climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, which stands at 5,895m and Island Peak in Nepal, which stands at 6,189m. The group will dwindle down to four contestants after this especially difficult round.

The four remaining contestants will return to Vietnam and train for two months before beginning the second phase of the program, the journey to conquer the roof of the world, from April to June 2008.

Sunday's tryouts yielded 50 possible contestants who were selected based on physical strength, competitive spirit, and drive by professionals from the Institute of Physical Training and Sport Science in Vietnam. During the tryouts, prospective contestants ran for two kilometers, scaled a rope, and performed push-ups and sit-ups.

Another audition for the show will take place in Hanoi at Hang Day Stadium from October 6-7. Organizers of "Everest Vietnam 2008" will select the final 20 candidates for the program from the pool of finalists from both cities.

(Source: SGT)