Two-year-old British boy scales new heights to Everest base camp
Youngster avoids altitude sickness on way to 17,598ft above sea level after his family set out ‘on a whim’
A TWO-YEAR-OLD British boy is thought to be the youngest person ever to reach Everest Base Camp.
Ross Dallas took his son Carter to the mountain’s southern campsite, which is located 17,598ft above sea level.
Mr Dallas, 35, completed the trek with Carter on his back and alongside the toddler’s mother, Jade, 31.
Each year, around 40,000 trekkers reach South Base Camp in Nepal, with just 800 people attempting to scale the entire 29,031 foot mountain annually.
However, it is thought Carter is the youngest person to have reached South Base Camp.
A four-year-old child from the Czech Republic is understood to have held the previous base camp record.
The family of three reached the base camp on Oct 25.
Originally from Glasgow, they are on a one-year trip around Asia.
Mr Dallas, a former senior sales manager, said: “Carter coped better than me and his mum. We both got slight altitude sickness but he was absolutely fine.
“There were two medics at the villages before base camp and they tested his blood to check he was fine, his results were way better than ours – they were amazed!”
While Mr Dallas said the family brought jackets and two sleeping bags for the trek, he said they “basically did it on a whim”. “Within 24 hours of touching down in Kathmandu we started the trek,” he said.
However, a trek to South Base Camp is not without risk. Each year around three to five people die while trying to complete the challenge.
In 2017 Min Bahadur Serchan, a former British Gurkha soldier, died at Everest Base Camp while trying to reclaim his title as the oldest person to climb to the mountain’s summit.
He was 85 at the time and reportedly suffered a heart attack.
Scientists say altitude sickness and severe side effects from a lack of oxygen are likely to be just as common in children as they are in adults.
However, some experts urge caution taking children to extreme altitude as it can be harder to identify symptoms than in grown-ups.
Mr Dallas, 35 said he, his son and Carter’s mother, a former housing officer, regularly practise “breathing techniques” and plunge themselves into ice cold baths.
The parents wore normal trainers for the hike. The family set out on a year of travel in August last year and are renting out their home in Scotland while they are abroad. They are in the jungle at a Thai nature reserve in Khao Sok, with their next stop Bangkok and then onto Cambodia.
They have visited several exotic destinations including Sri Lanka and the Maldives – as well as Nepal.
Carter’s birthday was spent at Universal Studios in Singapore, before the family celebrated Christmas in Penang, Malaysia.
Mr Dallas says his son is benefiting from learning about cultures and “loves” hearing the Islamic call to prayer. He added: “He’ll say ‘sawadika’ and ‘namaste’ – he’s picking up the lingo.
“We love that he has been exposed to different cultures and has been playing with all the kids in small villages, it’s really opening his mind up.”
Carter has also developed a taste for exotic cuisine and enjoyed fish curries in the Maldives and chicken feet in Malaysia. His family say the trip’s highlights have included a visit to an elephant orphanage and swimming with sharks in the Maldives.
Mr Dallas added: “We hope we can inspire other people to go out and see the real world. It’s way better than just going to Tenerife.”