Penwortham man faced tough times at Everest Base Camp

Brian Moore, of Penwortham, said he was ‘overawed’ when he reached the top and couldn’t believe he finally managed the trek.The grandfather-of-two's efforts have raised more than £431 for youth arts charity Double R Arts, in Penwortham.

The 71-year-old, who did the expedition with Travel and Trek, said: “There were a couple of times I thought we were not going to make it for various reasons.“Our flight from Dubai to Kathmandu was on time but storms at Kathmandu meant we were stuck, circling in storm clouds for an hour until storm moved away from airport. “We then needed to get to Lukla airport, which is described as the most dangerous airport in the world. It is very small, with a short runway and vertical drop at one end and a mountain at other end.“The same storm had cancelled flights to Lukla, so the following day we were in a crowded airport trying to get a flight“We sat in airport for seven hours, only to be told all flights cancelled, so we decided to get a helicopter to Lukla.

“The next day we started walking in the sunshine and I enjoyed a visit to the monastery.“But a day later, we had another setback as our porter was taken ill, He was so bad he was sent to hospital via a helicopter.“By this time, we had not made much progress and so we tried to catch up the time.“We were tackling some serious ascents and gasping for oxygen. I was paired up with another man, called Bob, and as we were both suffering from headaches, he said he wanted to go back down.

“At this point I really didn’t think we would complete our trek. But after suggesting we split the next part over two days, we finally made it.“I was overawed with the sight as I tried to get my breathe back and take it all in.“We spent the next four days in descent, which I thought would be easy, but my legs were so tired.“We were stranded again with the clouds and so was delayed. Luckily, we managed to get the last plane back to Katmandu.“It was hard, but exciting at the same time and the views were spectacular. It was such a different lifestyle as it was warm and sunny during the day but at night the temperature dropped below freezing.

"I want to say a big thank you to all everyone who has sponsored me and are supporting Double R Arts."During the many times I've been gasping for breath on a climb, knowing that there's another climb just round the corner, and the mornings getting out of a cosy sleeping bag to a room at minus 10 degrees, their support has been a great driving force."To make a donation visit http://www.mydonate.bt.com/events/brianseveresttrek/460655