Very few families would choose to spend their winter vacation enduring the mental and physical challenges of climbing to one of the base camps for the world's tallest mountain, but that wasn't the case one Altona-area family, the Klippensteins.

Dean and Wendy Klippenstein, and their children Colton and Miranda made the trek to Everest Base Camp (EBC) in Nepal with some family friends January 25th to February 1st. It took the group 9 days to scale the nearly 8,000 vertical feet from Lukla, Nepal to EBC. The goal was to hike up about 1,000 every day.

Within those 9 days were 2 acclimatization days where the group had to take certain measures to get their bodies used to the higher elevation and lower oxygen levels. The two families would hike for 3 to 4 hours in order to hit their daily 1,000-foot goal and would then turn around and come back a ways and sleep at a lower elevation.

Conditions on the trek were extremely challenging with no break from the -15 to -20 temperatures, howling winds and driving snow at times. Despite the trials of hiking to heights that surpassed the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia (18,000 feet above sea level), the Klippensteins witnessed some of the most impressive views on earth.

"Amazing. Awe-inspiring beauty," said Miranda.

Wendy added it's hard to describe just how beautiful it was.

"To be able to just walk through those amazing mountains and the valleys..you're in the clouds and so often you're seeing the clouds below you. Some days it snowed, so to see the snow falling and to walk through that."

For Miranda, she said it was the final day of hiking where she wasn't sure she could continue and make it to their destination.

Wendy agreed, saying the day provided some of the worst hiking conditions imaginable and that each step was a conscious decision to put one foot in front of the other.

"It's not a path. This was snowy and icy and clamouring over big, massive boulders. Every breath was a bit of gasp," she described. "When we got to Everest Base Camp you couldn't see the mountains around you because of the storm."

At that point, Wendy said she was happy to just have the family pose for a picture near a sign at EBC and move on.

"It wasn't this amazing moment. It was more like 'Ok we did it, now let's go back'," she said with a chuckle.

It only took the group 4 days to descend the mountain and return to their starting point at Lukla.

Reflecting on the experience, Miranda says it was the people in their group that provided the biggest highlight, noting she couldn't have done the trek without their constant encouragement and support.

Wendy echoed that sentiment.

"The fact I can do something that's really, really hard and I can watch my kids do something really, really hard and the fact that they chose to do it along with their parents," she said. "It shows you a different side. I was so proud of them."

You can learn more about the Klippenstein family's adventures on their Facebook page Our Family Travels.