Record breaking teenage climber aims to summit Mount Everest

Edward will have his 19th birthday during the expedition, and if his summit attempt is successful he will be the youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest by the South East Ridge route. As well as being inspired by adventurer Bear Grylls - who climbed Everest at the age of 23 - Edward has a family connection to the mountain, which has spurred him on to complete this challenge of a lifetime.

His ancestor Christopher Summerhayes was the British Ambassador in Nepal when Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tensing successfully climbed Everest for the first time in 1953. Summerhayes gave them the Union Jack flag from his diplomatic car, which was taken to the top of the mountain, and relayed the news of their success to the Queen by telegraph. Edward's record attempt will follow in the footsteps of the first two people ever to summit Everest, taking the same route as they did 58 years ago.

Edward has chosen to raise funds for Alzheimer's Society through this challenge, as his grandmother has vascular dementia. He told us why fundraising for the Society is important to him:

'Climbing Everest is widely considered to be far more of a mental challenge than a physical one, however it is nothing compared with what the 750,000 people with dementia in the UK and their families have to cope with day in day out. This is something I have experienced first hand as my grandmother has vascular dementia as did my great grandfather and great aunt.

Alzheimer's Society is the leading charity in it's field and the work they do is invaluable. It is my hope that as I take the journey to Everest I will be able to raise much needed funds and awareness for the charity.'

To achieve his goal, Edward has been putting himself through a gruelling training regime. He runs for two hours every day, practices rock climbing and has spent the last year conquering mountains around the world, preparing his body for the extreme altitude of Everest.

Part of this training led him to set a record for being the youngest person to climb Baruntse in Nepal, a lofty 7100m, in November 2010. At the end of January he will head to Argentina to climb Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas at 6,962m.

You can support Edward's attempt by sponsoring his climb at justgiving.com/eds-attempteverest

You can also keep up to date with Edward's challenge by reading his blog or visiting his website - http://www.eds-attempteverest.com/

Edward is also on Facebook so please do visit his page and 'Like' it to help spread the word

If you are inspired by Edward's adventure and would like to embark on your own challenge, check out the fantastic range of Treks we have on offer.