Expedition Hanesbrands Chooses Student to Trek to Mount Everest Base Camp

Hanesbrands Inc., Winston-Salem, N.C., which is leading Expedition Hanesbrands to climb Mount Everest this spring, announced today that it will take Winston-Salem, N.C., high school student LaQuishia Stone to visit the world’s highest mountain to inspire other students to set ambitious goals in life.

The 17-year-old Carver High School junior and school guidance counselor Theresa Hamer were selected to represent the school community, affectionately known as Carver Nation, on the expedition after writing essays and conducting interviews with a selection committee. LaQuishia’s mother, LaShonda Stone, will accompany her daughter.

The roundtrip cultural expedition that will travel through Himalayan Sherpa villages departs April 21 and will take three weeks. If the group makes it to Everest base camp at 17,700 feet, they will get a firsthand glimpse of the staging area for climbing the world’s highest mountain whose summit is 29,035 feet.

LaQuishia and Hamer will communicate from the mountain via written, video, and audio postings on the official Expedition Web site – www.ClimbWithUs.com.

“I am so excited to go to Mount Everest,” LaQuishia said. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience a foreign culture, and something I will remember forever. My friends and family did not believe me at first when I told them I was going to Mount Everest. Now that they know the trip is for real everyone has been sending well-wishes and letting me know they are proud of me for making this journey.”

Hanesbrands and the leader of its expedition, international mountaineer Jamie Clarke, challenged Carver High students to join the expedition by writing essays describing their own “personal Everests.” LaQuishia’s essay described her dream of becoming a music producer and her goal of sharing lessons from her trip with her classmates for the betterment of Carver Nation.

The trek will be the teen’s first trip outside of the United States and a world away from her routine in Winston-Salem.