Expedition bids to bag 40 Munros

Walkers from Project Trust at the top of Creag Leachach

A team of climbers has embarked on a gruelling attempt to climb 40 Munros in only seven days.

The walkers hope to complete the marathon expedition to mark the 40th anniversary of voluntary organisation Project Trust.

Their route began in Braemar on Sunday before moving on to Crianlarich and then the Cairngorms.

They plan to climb between four and 10 Munros every day, and hope to finish in Ratagan on Sunday.

It has been pretty hard going but it also great fun and spirits are very high Charlie Masding Munro climber

The team of 10, all aged in their 20s, includes an accountant, a Russian-speaking PR agent, a journalist and a masseuse, none of whom consider themselves experienced climbers.

They have been accompanied by a ground crew made up of mothers and friends who are ferrying the climbers between the various start and finishing points, cooking their meals and tending to their blisters.

By Friday morning they had bagged almost 30 Munros, including Ben Nevis, and looked well on track to finish on schedule.

Among the original group of climbers who set off up Creag Leachach, the first of the 40 mountains they aim to conquer, was Charlie Masding.

Finishing line

She said: "We have been covering about 20 miles every day.

"It has been pretty hard going but also great fun and spirits are very high because we can almost see the finishing line in sight and the weather has not been too bad, although we have had a little bit of snow.

"Some of the group had climbed Ben Nevis before, we all do lots of exercise and we went for training in Snowdonia last month as preparation.

"There is a lot of determination among the group to finish this, which I think is a hallmark of people who have been involved with Project Trust - we just don't give up."

Project Trust is an educational charity based on the Isle of Coll in the Hebrides which has sent more than 5,500 gap year volunteers overseas, where many of them work as teachers in isolated village schools.