Telefonica Digital is backing an expedition that will take four young people who have diabetes on a trek to the base camp of Mount Everest. The operator is supplying each member of the team with a tablet PC running its app for chronic disease as well as a glucometer. The team members, who are blogging about their experiences, keep in touch via satellite communications. The expedition started on August 31 and runs until September 18.

The app on their tablets will enable the doctors to monitor the team members’ vital signs via satellite. The expedition, which is backed by Telefonica and Fundación Deporte Joven, is the brainchild of Josu Feijoo, a climber and astronaut who is himself a diabetic. Feijoo has established an annual programme called Diabetic People Without Borders that aims to take a group of young people each year to the Mount Everest base camp.