The High Exposure Foundation, established in the 1990s in Minnesota by Ed Hommer, offered to help Nawang achieve his Everest dream with donations of high-tech prosthetic equipment suitable for mountain climbing and trekking. Ed Hommer's prosthetist, Tom Halvorson, oversaw Nawang's fittings and coached him on how to hike and climb at extreme altitudes safely. This enabled Nawang to successfully trek across the high Himalayan Khumbu region of Nepal for days to reach Everest basecamp, climb steep snow and ice slopes during the many weeks of acclimatization ascents partially up the mountain and back, then make the final continuous push to the summit and back during a perfect weather window on the mountain. Each day he had to carry—in addition to his food, water, extra clothes, and other supplies—a spare prosthetic leg in case of problems. Another extraordinary aspect of his accomplishment is that Nawang chose not to do any physical training before the expedition, as he was concerned about possibly damaging his knee or prosthetic leg. In addition, nausea during his summit push prevented him from eating during the three-day climb up to the summit and the two-day descent back to basecamp.