A Dundee soldier is in an army team attempting the Hard Rock Challenge - scaling 60 of the most famous and challenging peaks in only five weeks. He is Captain Mark Stevenson, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, a former pupil of Harris Academy.
The team set out today at Cheddar Gorge, Somerset. They aim to finish with an ascent at Land's End on August 18. This year is the 50th anniversary of the Army Mountaineering Association (AMA) and army mountaineers are departing on major expeditions all across the globe.
Mark, one of the AMA's top climbers, won't be joining them, as he explained, "Rather than climb in the Himalayas or Greenland, we will attempt an even more arduous climbing challenge right here in the UK."
Mark serves with the Attack Helicopter Integrated Project Team supporting the Apache helicopter at RNAS Yeovilton. The team aims to raise £30,000 for Mountain Rescue in the process of attempting their Hard Rock Challenge.
In 1974, Hard Rock - an anthology of the 60 hardest and best rock climbs in the UK - was published. Despite dozens of attempts in the intervening 33 years, only two climbers have managed to climb every route...and they took over 10 years to do so.
Text courtesy of The Courier, Dundee 19 July 2007