原文:VAUDE Chosen for the Olympic Project On its long journey from Greece to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the Olympic flame will be reaching a new pinnacle, the summit of Mt. Everest. The Chinese Mountaineering Association, under contract with the Olympic Committee, chose the best equipment in an official call for bids for the highly qualified expedition team that will bring the Olympic torch to the highest mountain on earth. The German mountain sports firm VAUDE bid in three categories, running against stiff competition in a strict selection process. VAUDE won the award for tents, backpacks and insulation pads. One member of the Olympic Expedition team is Ji Ji from Lhasa, Tibet. She is currently the most well-known mountaineer in China and has been under contract with VAUDE since March 2007. 130 Space K2 tents, 80 Expedition Rock backpacks and 80 Air Dream insulation pads from VAUDE will support the mountaineers on their difficult mission. "We are proud that the jury made the decision to choose VAUDE. Our high level of expertise as an alpine outfitter and the quality of our products convinced the selection panel to depend on VAUDE for this extraordinary challenge," explained Albrecht von Dewitz, VAUDE CEO. Dewitz travelled to Base Camp on Mt. Everest in April 2007 for the preparations being taken there. The torch will travel from Greece to Beijing through approximately 20 of the world's cities, over Mt. Everest and through each of China's provinces, until it finally arrives in Beijing on the 8th of August for the opening celebrations where it will take centre stage. This torch relay will be the longest yet and may well go down as the most suspenseful in the history of the Olympic Games. It will take far-reaching provisions to bring the flame up the 8844 meters to the summit of Mt. Everest unscathed. The preparations at Mt. Everest have been running at full speed since April 2007. China's best mountaineers, the camera crew and TV journalists are competing to qualify. In order to be accepted onto the 40-person expedition team, they will need to be able to withstand extreme physical stress in the oxygen deficient zone above 6,000 meters. |