For the love of Janet: Walker, 82, climbs every Munro to raise funds after his wife develops Alzheimer’s
Two years ago, Nick Gardner, 82, set out to climb all of Scotland’s 282 Munros and yesterday, surrounded by 200 friends, family and well-wishers, he scaled the last one.
His incredible effort to claim all of Scotland peaks over 3,000ft in just 800 days – sometimes climbing seven mountains a day – was hailed yesterday as the retired teacher who lives in Wester Ross climbed his final Munro, Cairn Gorm.
The grandfather of four has been fundraising for the Royal Osteoporosis Society and Alzheimer Scotland after his wife, Janet, was diagnosed with both conditions.
Originally, he had hoped to raise £10,000 to be split between the charities, but the total has now surpassed £50,000, thanks in part to widespread sharing of the challenge on social media, where he now has almost 14,000 followers on Instagram.
He told The Sunday Post: “I feel like a little boy at Christmas. I’m so overwhelmed by all the support and the amount of money we’ve managed to raise, and of course I feel great that I’ve been able to complete the challenge so quickly. I’d originally hoped it would take me 1,200 days.
“Janet has always been passionate about helping others so I wanted to raise money in her name to hopefully help make things a bit better for others suffering from these horrible diseases.”
Gardner’s daughter, Sally McKenzie, helped him set up the fundraiser and social media presence, and told The Sunday Post how proud of her father she was for completing the amazing feat. She said: “I thought he would throw himself into the challenge but the passion and dedication with which he has done it has been incredible.
“I’m really proud of my dad and how he has created this adventure to cope with a difficult time.”
Gardner added: “Although it’s not stopped what’s happened to Janet, it’s helped me become stronger to cope. It’s been very therapeutic.”
The experience has also helped Gardner meet a whole host of new people, old and young, who have become friends over the past two years of the challenge.
“When I was out climbing I used to stop people and tell them what I was doing and about the money I was raising, but now it’s the other way around and I’m recognised all the time on the mountains,” he said.
“I’ve met so many wonderful people through it and there’s a core, nucleus group of around 20 people who now come out with me on most of the climbs – people I would never have met had it not been for the challenge, so that is great.”
The challenge hasn’t come without its trials however, with weather and tough conditions making things a “little unpleasant” at times, admits Gardner. “You never conquer a mountain – it’s been there long before us and it’ll be there long after we’re gone.
“It lets you climb it and you have to respect it. If the weather is good then that’s great, but if it’s bad, the mountain can kill you.
“I am obviously an old man, and the last few weekends of climbing have been incredibly hard.
“Last weekend at Knoydart we had terrible wind and rain, so that made the experience a bit more challenging. And I was on the mountain for 14 hours, walking the entire time. There have also been a couple of times where I’ve completed seven Munros in just one day.
“But now the challenge is over I’m not going to stop walking. I might have a rest for a little while but I still feel well. I won’t stop until I have to.”