Couple complete Himalayan hike for charity

A Jersey couple have finished an arduous Himalayan hike for charity.

Rik de Louche, 39, and Olvia Shanks, 38, tackled the Great Himalaya Trail (GHT) through Nepal, which organisers say has been completed by fewer than 500 people.

They started at the beginning of October and it took them 67 days to reach the end of the trail just before Christmas.

During the challenge, they climbed roughly 150,000m (492,126ft) which is the equivalent of climbing Mount Everest almost 17 times.

The couple took on the challenge to raise money for Mind Jersey and Jaya Mental Health, a charity which provides support in Nepal.

Mr de Louche said "the wind chill was savage" once they had climbed to more than 5,000m (16404.2ft).

"It was super steep going up the climbs – just relentless," he said.

"But I'd say it was pretty worth it for some of the views we got of Everest".

The couple earlier told the BBC they had to be airlifted from a mountain pass with altitude sickness during part of the challenge but did not face any more significant setbacks after that.

Mr de Louche said they knew the GHT would be very tough but it was even harder than they expected at times.

He said: "My shoulder is absolutely knackered like it's in agony constantly" and "looking at myself in my camera I feel like I've aged 10 years since the start of this trip".

"It's just been infinite steps taking us all the way up and down which was the theme of the lower parts of the GHT."

The couple has raised more than £2,000 for the mental health charities.

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