Mountaineering as a sport has taken on a higher profile after the success of an alpine ascent of Mount Xixabangma in 2002 led by Dr. Robert Goh. Besides being the first team in Southeast Asia to ascent an 8,000m mountain using the alpine style, equally significant was the fact that a group of students from the National University of Singapore (NUS) was recruited to train with them. This is the first time in the history of mountaineering in Singapore that a student team formed an integral component of a national expedition. This pioneer training programme for students, called the Make It Real programme, required the students to undergo one year of rigorous training to learn the rudiments of expedition planning and mountaineering skills. The programme culminated in an expedition to a peak of moderate difficulty in Nepal.

The Make It Real programmewas into its second year when the university mooted the idea of sending an NUS team to Everest as part of the university centennial celebrations in 2005. This endeavour to scale the world's highest peak mirrors the continuous effort by the university in building a world-class institute.

Dr. Robert Goh was appointed project director for the expedition, to select, guide and train the team.