81-year-old climbs Mount Everest on munro to raise thousands for charity

An 81-year-old man has climbed the height of Mount Everest on his local munro to raise money for a hospice.

Angus Whyte, from Dunblane, has climbed Ben Ledi 12 times, the same height as Mount Everest, to raise money for Strathcarron hospice.

Mr Whyte said that climbing Ben Ledi started as a way for him to get through lockdown and the Covid-19 pandemic, when he realised he could use it to support the local community.

Mr Whyte said: "With Covid-19 restrictions, I was looking to do something helpful outdoors, that would benefit the community and me with exercise.

"So I worked out that where I parked, climbing Ben Ledi was at 124m and the climb was 755m, and I thought this would be a good challenge for me to climb it 12 times - which would take me to 8900m - well above Mount Everest.

"So that was my challenge, to do that for the hospice.''

Having now raised £4,000 for the hospice, Mr Whyte said many of the staff do work to help people but it goes unseen, and hoped the charity would raise awareness for the service.

Mr Whyte said: "Our local hospice, Strathcarron hospice, working with them on this project, I've come to realise the fantastic work they do.

"Like a lot of people, I thought of the hospice as just a building where they help.

"But so much of their work is out in the community and sadly when people pass away they often prefer to do it in their homes rather than away with strangers.

"So there's a huge amount of work that goes on unseen and they have to raise an enormous amount of money to support these services and to enable them to deliver the service free.

"And while I was still fit and healthy seemed to me to be a good challenge to link it to fundraising for the hospice to an assault on Everest as it were.''

Facing the clock, Mr Whyte managed the climb in an impressive 14 hours and 41 minutes.

Getting into fitness later in life, Mr Whyte said he remembered watching the first London Marathon on television in 1981.

The next year, he decided to take it on, when he was 42 years old.

He said: "I'm pretty well known in Dunblane as it is for being the old guy who runs about in the morning, a lot of the local people have been asking me about the challenge and have all donated fantastically.

"And they often comment I'm inspiring them to run and to do the hills.

"So that gives me as much pleasure as anything.

"Christmas Day was my last climb, but to tell you the truth I finished on December 1, but I promised my son Alun and his partner Courtney that I would go up with them again on Christmas.

"It feels amazingly good for my wellbeing to have completed it.''

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