THE OUTLOOK #67

#67 PEOPLE

Climbing the height of Everest at just 6 years old

The very inspiring six-year-old Oscar is climbing 12 UK mountains to raise money for "poorly children to go on holiday".

The arrival of a new year usually brings a bunch of new resolutions for all of us, but Oscar is quite literally taking it a step further as he's currently midway through climbing 12 of the highest mountains in the UK.

Six-year-old Oscar Burrow from Lancaster decided he wanted to become the youngest person to climb Mount Everest after learning about Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay at school.

After his father explained to him what climbing Mount Everest really entails, he's taken on the challenge of climbing 12 mountains in the UK with unrivalled enthusiasm, the sum of which will equal the height of Mount Everest (8,849m).

Oscar summited the first mountain, Inglebourgh in the Yorkshire Dale, on October 9 2022 and has now climbed 6 mountains in total. His next one will be Snowdon in Llanberis, some time in February. He's hoping to have completed his ambitious challenge on May 29, climbing Ben Nevis in Scotland. This date holds a lot of significance to him as it will mark the 70th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest by Edmunt Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

As if climbing mountains at such a young age wasn't impressive enough, Oscar has also, so far, managed to raise over £3,000 for Derian House Children’s Hospice in Chorley, which offers respite and palliative care to children, young people and their families.

Raising money for the Hospice is important to Oscar as he "want[s] poorly children at Derian House Children’s Hospice to go on holiday.”The Derian House has lodges by the seaside and in the Lake District to offer families the opportunity to have a break and make some lasting memories with their loved ones, away from the hospital.

Having no previous experience of climbing, Oscar has proved to be a natural and met each challenge with a smile on his face, regardless of the weather and difficulty ahead of him. He's often accompanied by his dad, grandad, mum, and even 3-year-old little sister and has received tremendous support from people across the UK and even as far as the US!

The youngest person to ever summit Everest was 13 when they accomplished this exploit and Oscar is well determined to establish a new record in the next seven years.

If you want to support Oscar and make a donation, follow the link here:

To keep track of Oscar's progress, you can follow him on Facebook here:

Léa's takeaway

We are in absolute awe of Oscar's effort and determination. Having done a walking challenge myself last year to raise money for Mind, albeit at a much smaller scale, I can imagine the pride he must feel after each new summit reached. Oscar is showing us that if you put your mind into it, nothing can stop you!Feeling inspired but not quite up for climbing Everest (yet!)? Why not look at some challenges organised by a charity you support or check Charity Challenge for some organised events near you or worldwide. The world is your oyster!