A GRUELLING challenge which saw a cohort of dedicated climbers scale 26 mountains in just over 100 hours culminated on Mount Errigal in Co Donegal yesterday afternoon.
Twelve climbers from a starting field of 60 completed the Bayer 100-hour Challenge, which organisers last night said had generated €56,000 for two charities, the Aids Partnership for Africa and the Irish homeless group, Sophia Housing.
Fifteen teams drawn from a wide range of organisations, including AIB, the Defence Forces and Microsoft, took part in the challenge, which began on Ireland's highest mountain, Carrauntoohil, in the Macgillycuddy's Reeks early on Wednesday morning.
Peaks with borders in each of Ireland's 32 counties were scaled during the challenge.
However, attempts to break the existing record of 98 hours and 45 minutes were slowed considerably by the recent spell of wet weather, and it took 104 hours to complete the challenge.
One of the climbers, Ian McKeever, who last July broke the world record for climbing the world's seven highest mountains, was among those who completed the challenge.
"It was an amazing challenge because it brought together people from all walks of life," Mr McKeever said.
"A lot of the people had to take themselves to a level they are not used to and the weather really made it difficult."
