A MINEHEAD woman has raised over £3,600 for charity after climbing the highest peak in Europe – her ninth fundraiser to date.

Karen Beaver last week handed over a cheque for £3,648.95 at The Beacon Centre, Musgrove Park Hospital, to SURE (Somerset Unit for Radiotherapy Equipment), a local cancer charity to support provision of cancer services at the hospital.

It is the highest amount Karen has raised in her nine years of fundraising by mountain climbs and cycle treks.

She travelled to Russia in August to climb Mt Elbrus, 5,642m above sea level, the highest peak in Europe and tenth most prominent in the world. 

“I trained for it since last year, right up until I went,” said Karen.

Initially she was disappointed when she thought she would not be able to reach the summit after all.

Snow and clouds had made visibility very difficult and after being on the mountain for a few days, having done a couple of acclimatisation treks, Karen decided the 12-hour summit climb would be too much and she did not want to hold the other five group members back.

Buy the Free Press for the full story.