A WORLD-RENOWNED mountaineer and adventurer has reached the summit of Mount Everest for a 17th time to help raise awareness of a county charity.

Kenton Cool, 49, is one of Britain’s leading alpine and high altitude climbers and, excluding Sherpas, holds the record for the most times reaching the summit of the world’s highest mountain.

He did the climb for Leuchie House, a charity near North Berwick that offers short stays and breaks for those living with neurological conditions.

Wearing a sponsored Leuchie House t-shirt signed by a number of celebrities, Kenton set out from base camp last month and climbed for five days before reaching Everest’s peak for the 17th time.

Kenton was the keynote speaker at last year’s inaugural Leuchie Long Lunch, a business lunch aimed at raising awareness and funds for Leuchie, which raised £125,000.

Kenton stressed that the admirable job Leuchie staff did made an Everest climb look simple in comparison.

'So much admiration'

He said: “I have so much admiration for everyone involved with Leuchie House. The strength, teamwork and resilience of the guests, volunteers, supporters and staff is an inspiration.

“The work they do makes my job of climbing Everest look very simple and it was an honour to take a piece of Leuchie to Everest’s summit.”

Kenton will be passing over the guest speaker baton for this year’s Long Lunch to Aldo Kane, ex-commando and adventurer.

The lunch will be held at Prestonfield House Hotel, Edinburgh, on November 24, with BBC presenter Natasha Raskin Sharp returning as host.

Mr Kane said: “I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences at this year’s Long Lunch, in aid of such a worthy charity. And being a competitive person, I obviously want to try and top last year’s fundraising total!”

Visit leuchiehouse.org.uk/support-us/leuchie-forever/leuchie-long-lunch-23 to buy tickets for this year’s Leuchie Long Lunch.