Climber from Norfolk makes history by climbing 120 British mountains in less than a year

Liam Chase and his team at the final summit at Pen y Fan in Wales. Picture: Liam Chase (Image: Archant)

An intrepid adventurer has completed the incredible feat of climbing 120 of the highest mountains in the British Isles.

Liam Chase, who grew up in Fakenham, was inspired to take the P600 challenge in aid of two charities, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Alzheimer's Society. Liam lost his grandfather to a heart attack and his grandmother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Mr Chase had aimed to raise £1,000 for both charities; he ended up collecting funds just shy of £5,000.

The challenge, which has only been completed by six climbers, involves scaling peaks more than 600 metres high, adding up to the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest 12 times.

His adventure began with Cross Fell in Cumbria on New Year's Day 2019 and he finished the challenge by climbing the final peak of Pen y Fan in Wales on Saturday, November 9.

Mr Chase, who lives in Leicestershire and works as a design engineer, said: "The challenge has been relentless. For the past six months, I've spent nearly every weekend travelling up to Scotland and then racing back for work on a Monday morning.

"I've faced all sorts of weather too, including wind, snow and rain - when I travelled to Ireland, I was in the middle of Storm Hannah which provided some really testing conditions. But, if I could do it all again, I would.

"I took on this challenge because I wanted to really test myself. Knowing that the money I raise is going to two causes so close to my heart, and helping to fund life saving research, is an amazing feeling."

Hannah Pennock, the BHF's Fundraising Manager for Leicestershire, said: "We are amazed at the amount of money Liam has raised towards our life saving research.

"Without the generosity of people like Liam, we wouldn't be able to fund the ground breaking work we do to find preventions, treatments and cures for heart and circulatory diseases, the world's biggest killers."

The money raised by Liam for the BHF will help fund its life saving research into all heart and circulatory diseases, including coronary heart disease and stroke.