The Everest Skydive expedition combines adventure and skydiving beside Everest with awareness of bullying and young people’s mental health. The experience will be presented at the Zero Bullying charity gala on 19 February, featuring a performance by Carlos Latre, and at a conference on 4 March at the Marbella Palacio de Congresos.
Three days of demanding trekking through the Himalayas marked Pancho Campo’s path to the base of operations for his skydiving expedition beside Everest. The physical effort, the altitude and the preparation for a challenge of this kind were part of an initiative with a purpose that goes beyond adventure: raising visibility for the fight against bullying and for the importance of looking after young people’s mental health.
Under the name Everest Skydive Expedition – Zero Bullying Project, Campo has taken to Nepal a project that uses extreme challenges as a starting point to talk about fear, preparation, vulnerability and responsibility towards others. The images and experiences gathered during the trip will be used to carry that message to schools, universities and companies, and will have a prominent place at an upcoming charity gala.
The expedition also had an intimate dimension: a tribute to his nephew Stefaan, who recently passed away, whose ashes he scattered at Everest Base Camp.
A physical, mental, emotional and spiritual preparation
The work to take on the expedition began long before arriving in Nepal. Campo trained in Marbella and carried out technical skydiving training, bringing both processes together in his Smile Top Performance system, which structures preparation around four pillars: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
His preparation combines physical and technical training with breathing techniques, visualisation and personal rituals of concentration. Nutrition and hydration are also part of that work.
In the Himalayas, these tools had a concrete application: coping with accumulated effort, managing uncertainty and maintaining focus in the face of a demanding challenge. The preparation had to cover both the physical demands of the route and the emotions that accompany an experience of this kind.
Fear is one of the central themes of the story Campo wants to share. His experience allows him to explain how he personally prepares to act when doubts, anxiety or the feeling of not being in control appear. That learning forms part of the material he will bring to his meetings with students and professionals.
Three days of trekking and a dream at Kala Patthar
Reaching the base of operations required three days of trekking that Campo describes as extremely tough. Moving through the mountains was a substantial part of the expedition: a sustained effort before reaching the place from which the aerial activity was organised.
During the trip, he also reached Kala Patthar, near Everest Base Camp. This stage had not been planned initially and ended up becoming the fulfilment of a personal dream.
Reaching that point added another meaning to the journey. Besides the goal linked to skydiving, the expedition became an experience of endurance and adaptation, with moments of fatigue, uncertainty and satisfaction that form part of the story Campo wants to tell.
The audiovisual documentation captures that process. Alongside images of the landscape and of the skydiving activity, the videos show the path and the preparation behind the challenge. This material will allow the public to see an expedition that includes both its spectacular moments and its human dimension.
Adventure as a starting point to talk about bullying
The expedition is part of a track record of initiatives that link adventure and awareness. Campo’s previous experiences include expeditions to the Arctic, Iceland, Africa and the Caribbean, as well as diving under the ice in Greenland, dives with sharks and high-altitude parachute jumps.
The material gathered during these challenges serves as support for talks aimed at schools and organisations. In the case of the Zero Bullying Project, the focus is on preventing bullying at school and on the need to pay attention to young people’s emotional wellbeing.
The appeal of these experiences offers a way to spark interest and open conversations. Fear, pressure, the need for support and the management of emotions are themes that make it possible to connect the story of an expedition with everyday situations, without equating a chosen challenge with the suffering of those who experience bullying.
The aim is to use the attention generated by the images of the Himalayas to make room for a message that will continue after the trip: the importance of listening, supporting and taking active responsibility in the face of bullying.
A tribute to Stefaan at Everest Base Camp
Among the most moving moments of the expedition was the tribute to Stefaan, Campo’s nephew and a colleague at his company, who recently passed away.
In his memory, Campo scattered his ashes at Everest Base Camp. The gesture turned that part of the trip into a personal and family farewell, in a setting of special significance to him.
To the physical challenge and the project’s goals was thus added the grief for a person with whom he shared both family and professional ties. The journey left room for remembrance and for a tribute that will remain one of the most personal episodes of the expedition.
The experience thus brought together the challenge in the mountains, awareness of bullying and the memory of a loved one.
A charity gala with Carlos Latre on 19 February
The project’s continuity will have one of its main events on 19 February, with the Zero Bullying charity gala, which will feature a performance by Carlos Latre.
As part of the programme, Campo will present the Everest expedition and share a selection of the videos recorded during the trip. The audience will be able to learn about how the adventure unfolded, the preparation work and some of its most emotional moments.
The gala will connect the experience lived in Nepal with the purpose that drove the project: raising awareness of bullying and the importance of protecting young people’s mental health. Carlos Latre’s participation will bring humour and entertainment to an event with a charitable purpose.
First conference in Marbella on 4 March
The first conference in Marbella using the material collected during the expedition will take place on 4 March at the Palacio de Congresos, with the support of the Marbella City Council’s Department of Education and Culture.
At this event, Campo will share the images and experiences from the Himalayas to address bullying prevention, managing fear and the importance of looking after young people’s mental health. The audiovisual material will allow the audience to approach both the sporting challenge and the human story that accompanies it.
This conference, together with the charity gala and the subsequent presentations in schools and companies, will give continuity to the Zero Bullying Project and carry its message beyond the mountains.
