Nick Gardner started the challenge in a bid to raise funds for Alzheimer’s Scotland and the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS) after his wife Janet, 84, who has since moved into a care home, developed both conditions. The grandfather-of-four set out in July 2020 to begin his impressive feat of climbing the country’s 282 highest peaks and on Saturday was set to tackle his final Munro, Cairn Gorm. “I’m really absolutely ready and really excited to finish the final Munro,” Gardner, from Gairloch in the north-west Highlands of Scotland, told the PA news agency. “I feel like a child on Christmas Eve. A lot of my friends and some of my family will be with me, so it’s going to be a big day.” Gardner, who describes himself as an “experienced walker and climber” on his JustGiving page, had never climbed a Munro. The Munros, named after mountaineer Sir Hugh Munro, are Scottish mountains with an elevation of more than 3,000 feet (914 meters). Nick Gardner hugs his daughter Sally McKenzie after reaching the summit of Cairn Gorm. Photo: Jane Barlow/PA Gardner, a former physics teacher, will have climbed more than 152,000 meters by the end of his challenge – the equivalent of Mount Everest (8,848 metres) some 17 times. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. He will have walked an astonishing 2,000 miles, a similar distance to the journey between Edinburgh and Greece. Having hit the headlines with his impressive feat, he has also smashed the charities £50,000 target, raising £59,640 as of Saturday afternoon. Ahead of the final hurdle of his mammoth challenge, Gardner said: “Doing that last climb, I imagine, is going to be very emotional.” He added that having been “knocked for six” when Janet had to be moved into care, the challenge prevented him from having a mental breakdown. Staff and volunteers from Alzheimer’s Scotland and ROS were to join Gardner for the final climb, as were his two daughters, four grandchildren and some friends. A piper was arranged to play at the top as the group arrived. Gardner’s daughter Sally McKenzie nominated him for Guinness World Records as the oldest person to climb the Munros. Having completed seven Munros in the 10 days before his latest challenge, Gardner said on Saturday he was looking forward to resting his knees. “The last three days at Knoydart I’ve been doing have been very difficult,” he said. “Because I had already organized this last day, and for people to come with me, I just had to go ahead and I did. I haven’t had any injuries, but my knees are definitely tired. It will be good to rest them.”
