The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
‘Everesting’ challenge felt summit special for dedicated adventurer
Man scales hill 60 times in one day – to equal height of world’s tallest peak
A Blackford man has scaled the height of Mount Everest – and then some – by taking on an Ochil hill 60 times in under 21 hours.
David Wallace ascended the height of the Himalayan summit by scaling 422m Kinpauch 60 times in a day after his plans for a major mountaineering challenge closer to home were ended.
Landscape gardener and avid hillrunner David had planned to take on the Ramsay Round near Fort William, one of the UK’s toughest 24-hour expeditions.
With Scottish hills closed to visitors, the 44-year-old put his training to use closer to home.
After a friend told him about “Everesting” – climbing the height of the world’s tallest peak at a chosen hill close to home – David set out to make the most of the longest day at his favourite training spot.
Everesting began as a trend around 15 years ago among cycling groups and has since been adopted by hill-runners.
At 3am on last Saturday’s summer solstice, David was cheered on as he climbed Kinpauch, which sits between his village and Tillicoultry, over and over again, checking off a tally sheet at the summit to keep count.
It would have taken 56 ascents to reach the apex of the Nepalese mountain but David added another four for good measure to take his total distance to just over 100km.
David is far from sick of the sight of the hill now, and feels closer to his favourite spot than ever.
He said: “I run up Kinpauch all the time – it’s my favourite training hill and it’s a stone’s throw from my house.
“I’ve done a few endurance challenges before so I knew what to expect psychologically, but it was great to have a few people along to support me. That gave me a boost.
“I feel quite attached to the hill now.”
I run up Kinpauch all the time – it’s my favourite training hill and it’s a stone’s throw from my house. DAVID WALLACE