THEY'RE used to regularly pushing themselves to the limit for 80 minutes on the rugby pitch, but five of Basingstoke's first team are swapping their rugby boots for hiking boots for a very different challenge - climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Basingstoke RFC director of rugby Jim Dixon, community rugby coach Ollie Rogers, first-team captain Ross Stirling, scrum-half Darren Lillywhite and fitness coach Richard Cheetham are all jetting off to Africa in July to climb the north-east Tanzanian peak, which stands at nearly 6,000m.Completing the climbing party is Lee Champion, the son of Barry Champion, whose Champion Group of Companies is Basingstoke RFC's main sponsor.The super six are undertaking "Mission 'Manjaro" to raise their target of £35,000 to distribute among a host of charities.These include the Stand Up 4 'Stoke appeal - the ongoing redevelopment project of the rugby club's facilities at Down Grange - the Wooden Spoon Foundation - rugby's charity supporting mentally, physically and socially disadvantaged children and young people - and Everyman cancer research/treatment.And the six adventurers are appealing for support from the Basingstoke community to help them raise as much money as possible."It is costing us £1,500 each to do the climb, and we're hoping to raise £5,000 each for a collective total of more than £30,000," said Ross Stirling."It's a huge challenge - none of us has done anything like this before - so any support we get will be a huge help."He added: "I have wanted to do this since the age of 10, but me and Jim decided that we wanted to take on the challenge after reading Facing Up by Bear Grylls."We got to talking about whether we could do it ourselves. It just looked really good to do, and then the other boys came on board too."The group fly out on Sunday, July 1, for the 10-day excursion, organised through specialist company African Travel Resource.Kilimanjaro will take seven days to climb and the group will be taking the Lemosho route up Africa's tallest mountain."It's supposed to be the most demanding route - so we're not taking the easy option - but it's also the most rewarding one, with the best views," said Mr Dixon, who is being backed by Fullers brewery for the trek.The group will be accompanied by 10 experienced guides on their climb over the five stages - Lower Slopes (800m to 1,800m), Forest (1,800m to 2,800m), Heath/ Moorland (2,800m to 4,000m), Highland (4,000m to 5,000m), and Summit (5,000m plus)."We're pretty fit guys anyway, due to our rugby training, but this is totally different endurance, so we'll be training hard for it," said Mr Dixon.He added: "Kili-manjaro is 500m higher than Everest base camp, so for the last few days we'll be struggling for oxygen. Our back packs will feel heavy then!"Although we cannot go to any mountains that high in the UK, we're going to climb Snowdonia and maybe visit France for some mountain climbs, as we've got to be prepared physically and mentally for a very tough climb."The 24-year-old, who revealed they are "planning to do a live broadcast on Kestrel from the top of the mountain, as it's the only one where a phone signal is possible," added: "We're looking forward to it. It's going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us all."To support "Mission 'Manjaro", log on to Basingstoke RFC's website - www.basingstokerfc.com and click on the "Just-Giving" link on the home page.