A LIMERICK man who set himself the mammoth task of taking on the Seven Summits challenge has completed six of the seven toughest mountain climbs in the world.
Andy Nolan set himself the challenge to climb the seven summits – Kilimanjaro, Elbrus, Aconcagua, Denali, Kosciusko, Vinson Massif, and Everest – to help raise funds for the Limerick Children’s Grief Centre. He aims to become one of less than 20 Irish people to ever completed the challenge.
Now, just Everest stands in the way of Andy completing the task, after successfully climbing Vinson Massif in Antarctica in December.
Despite being his second last summit, Mr Nolan modestly told the Limerick Post that the ascent wasn’t as difficult as he expected.
“It was a lot easier than I thought, which was good. We got up on the 23rd of December, we got down on December 24th to base camp, and we couldn’t fly out till the 26th with Christmas,” he explained.
Having climbed six of the seven highest mountains in the world, Mr Nolan said that the most important thing during each climb is to look after yourself.
“You just have to take care of yourself, keep yourself covered, try not to get burned by the the effects of the sun bouncing off the snow, keep yourself covered in terms of risk of frostbite. And just put in the day’s work,” he said.
Turning his attention to the remaining summit, and the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, Andy is facing into his 2025 training schedule with hopes of completing the challenge in 2026.
“A lot of people draw parallels between Denali and Everest. So, I did Denali. It was tough, but achievable. The only reservation I have is that I’d only do Everest with somebody I knew,” Andy outlined.
Aiming to raise €10,000 for the Children’s Grief Centre, Andy’s fundraiser has so far raised over €6,600, with funds also going towards the care of four-year-old Amber Healy, who was hit by a van in North Tipperary last September.
Anyone who wishes to donate to Andy’s fundraising challenge can do so on his GoFundMe page on idonate.ie/fundraiser/Andys7summitschallenge.
