Inspirational 82-year-old man eight peaks away from completing challenge to climb all 282 Munros

Nick Gardner's world was shattered 2 years ago when his wife of 50 years had to be moved to a nursing home after she developed Alzheimer's and osteoporosis , they were a close couple so to save his mental health Nick decided he needed a challenge.

"When Janet went into care it absolutely shattered me," he told the PA news agency.
"We were incredibly close as a couple, she was the most wonderful and caring wife, mother and grandmother possible, and now she doesn't recognise me.
"I was heading into some mental condition, so I thought I have to get myself a challenge, to pull me out."
news.sky.com...

Nick decided to take on the challenge of Bagging the Munros , bagging entails climbing 282 of Scotland's mountains and now after 2 years Nick is just 8 ascents away from completing his challenge which has been raising money for Alzheimer Scotland and the Royal Osteoporosis Society.

A Munro is a Scottish mountain with an elevation of more than 3,000 feet (914 metres), and you can ‘bag’ one by reaching the summit. These lofty peaks take their name from Sir Hugh Munro (1856–1919), whose groundbreaking list of the 283 highest mountains in Scotland was first published as Munro’s Tables in the Scottish Mountaineering Club’s journal in 1891.

The first person to become a ‘compleater’ (the name given to people who bag them all) was Rev A E Robertson in 1901. Sadly, Sir Hugh himself never bagged all of the Munros on his list, as he died from the flu epidemic at the end of WW1, with 3 left to go.

Today, the official list of Munros contains 282 peaks (and 227 ‘tops’). Here we’ve put together a list of some of the Munros in the Trust’s care, to get you started.
www.nts.org.uk...

They say age is just a number and no doubt Nick Gardner is proof of that , I raise my digital hat to you Sir and wish you the best for your final 8 Munros.

This time last year.