At a time when most people are thinking of retirement, 64-year old David Betterton left his comfortable Eaton Bray home to take a 64-mile expedition in the Himalayas. It was a breathtaking 17,000 feet climb to Everest base camp and a place in Scouting history books.

This was David’s second attempt. Two years ago, his first attempt ended at 12,000 feet when he suffered altitude sickness and had to come home. But this Bedfordshire Scout Leader and leader trainer was made in the same mould as Chief Scout adventurer Bear Grylls. For two years he trained himself to peak fitness. His wife Jeanette said, “He didn’t look any different but he was certainly tough.” At 800 feet the Chiltern Hills around Dunstable don’t come anywhere near the world’s highest mountain at 29,000 feet but they proved sufficient.

David said, “I was part of a group of seven other climbers and a leader when we flew from Heathrow to Khatmandu. We were then introduced to our daily routine of exercises and tests on oxygen levels, pulse rate, breathing rate, blood pressure and weight. I lost over a stone (14 lbs) during the two week’s climb.

“Then it was a 40 minute early morning flight to Lukla in the foothills of the mountain range and our first glimpse of the massive height of Mount Everest. Days one and two were spent climbing up to the Sherpa Capital at Manche Bazaar. Then we spent another two days getting accustomed to the rarefied atmosphere at 11,000 feet.

“On day five it was up at sunrise for a climb through the rhododendrons and pine trees to Tengboche at 12,600 feet the farthest I reached in 2007. In a touching ceremony we were blessed by the Senior Monk and wished a safe journey. Day five took us above the tree line to Pherich and the real Himalayan scenery with snow capped mountains all around.

“There was another welcome rest period before we began the two day climb to base camp at 17,225 feet in driving snow. We just came round a corner and there it was after one of the hardest walks in my life. The following day we had another climb to the Khumbu Ice Fall with the sound of crashing avalanches all around us. I also had time to plant the Union flag and the Dunstable and Bedfordshire emblems to show I had been there. What an adventure.”

David added, “The Sherpas were wonderful people. They cooked three course meals for us all to five star standard on a remote camp site and smiled all the time. As the team leader said, you don’t climb Everest these days. The Sherpas take you for a trip around their back yard which just happens to be the highest mountain in the world.” And why did David do it? Well he reckons it was an ambition he has had since he was eight in 1953 when Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing reached the summit of Everest in Coronation year.

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