65 years ago, my father Sir Edmund Hillary and his climbing partner Tenzing Norgay were the first people to summit Mt. Everest and my Dad spent the rest of his life dedicated to philanthropy for the people of Nepal. But his love of the Himalayas is only part of my story. In the dozens of visits I have made to Nepal, it was the traumatic death of my mother and sister in a plane crash that has always coloured my return.Growing up, my family spent a great deal of time in Nepal, so it has always felt like my second home. In a way, returning there is a communion for me with the people I have lost. The local Sherpas were very connected to my family and they built numerous memorials for them in the Everest area. The region and the people have contributed so much to my healing.So, when the opportunity arose to partner with the True Patriot Love Foundation on an expedition for ill and injured soldiers along with civilian business leader mentors, I could not refuse the chance to share that healing.The Everest trek will challenge people in all sorts of unexpected ways. Its remoteness and the hostility of altitude manifest strangely. But after five Mt. Everest climbing expeditions, including summiting twice, I can attest that there is no greater reward than to experience the might of the Himalayas. In addition to the solidarity this trekking team will experience, and the mentorship program that will last a lifetime, the Nepalese experience will be amazing and enriching.Many of the military personnel on our expedition team have been in theatres of war. Those experiences are often organized chaos. But there is also routine. There are set expectations. There are protocols. On the sheer flanks of Mt. Everest, the only thing you can expect is the unexpected and the only thing upon which you can rely is your own human spirit to persevere, and that of your teammates. These challenges help restores the trust people sometimes lose in themselves as a result of trauma and that is what we hope to achieve on the True Patriot Love Everest expedition.Mt. Everest is a breathless place. Less than one third of the oxygen that we are used to at sea level is available up there, nearly 9km in the air. At base camp and the lower peaks where our True Patriot Love group will be, even professional athletes or elite military personnel will find the altitude tough. It is here on the planet's most famous mountain that the absolute limit of human physiology is reached.Before I set out with the True Patriot Love expedition this month, my pep talk to the team will make their mission clear: the job isn't done when you reach your goal; it is done when you get back down again.But this mission will also not be complete when they return to Kathmandu. The camaraderie among team members and the mentorship between military personnel transitioning to civilian life and business leaders will last a lifetime. So too will their reflections from their Everest adventure.While much has changed in the decades I have been travelling to Nepal, everyday life in the Himalayas remains very challenging. It puts a lot into perspective, as I would imagine military service must as well. In many respects, those parallels will make the experience of this expedition all the more powerful.So many of my own trips to Nepal have been associated with the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation's work building schools, hospitals and providing scholarships to children in the Himalayas. We are all about helping people improve their lives and careers. There are real parallels with True Patriot Love in that respect. I am excited to take a group of heroic people with real crisis experiences to a place for which I have great respect, to share the extraordinary experience of the Mt. Everest region and its power to help people seek inside themselves.I know what it is like to live with trauma in my heart and to overcome it through the power of the human spirit. My muse in many ways has been Mt. Everest, and I cannot wait to share it with real Canadian heroes – military and civilian alike. Please join in our journey, by following our progress at: http://truepatriotlove.comPeter Edmund Hillary is a mountaineer, philanthropist and writer.