Having caught the fund-raising trekking bug in 2002 when I climbed Mount Toubkal in the Moroccan High Atlas range, what better place to go in the 50th anniversary year of its conquering than Mount Everest? And so, in December, I joined the other 9 members of our intrepid group to the Base Camp of what local people call "Mother Goddess of the Sky". Each of us had pledged to raise at least £2500 for our chosen charity - mine was St Elizabeth Hospice - and get ourselves into peak physical fitness for the expedition.

After flying via Kathmandu to our trailhead at Lukla (2800m) we commenced our trek, walking 7-8 hours every day for 10 days and sleeping under canvas each night in the progressively decreasing cold, (-20 degrees C was recorded on one occasion) and where everything in your tent froze (including your sleeping bag!). On the eighth day of trek we left our tents at 5.30 am and headed off into the pitch dark aided by our head torches and trusty Sherpas and fumbled our way along the icy and boulder-strewn path to reach first Gorak Shep, the original base camp for the 1952 expedition and then the summit of Kala Pattar (5545m).

This was certainly where the hours of fitness training at the gym came into their own. At that altitude all of us were struggling to catch our breath in the oxygen-depleted air and every simple movement was a major effort, but with sheer stubborn determination and encouragement to each other we all made it to the top where we marvelled at the fantastic panorama that surrounded us: glaciers, ice falls, icy-blue glacial lakes, present-day Base Camp beneath us, the majesty of the king of them all - Everest - memories that we will cherish forever. Nearly 12 hours after setting off, in the dark and freezing cold, and struggling to see more than a few metres in front of us in the gathering wind and swirling mist, we eventually reached our camp, wearied by exertion and cold but elated by our achievement.

This must rank as the most amazing experience of my life so far, achieving a personal ambition and physical goal, as well as knowing that in the process I had also raised nearly £3000 for a local and very worthwhile charity.