Weather halts five peaks record bid

A world record bid by five climbers hoping to scale five Irish and British peaks in less than 24 hours has been put on hold because of adverse weather conditions.

The men, all from the North West of England, were due to start their charity challenge this morning on Kerry's 1,041 metres-high (3,415ft) Carrantuohill.

The bid - officially accepted by Guinness World Records - was being led by wealthy Cumbrian property developer Brian Scowcroft, 46, who planned to use his personal helicopter to ferry the team between mountains.

But his son Andrew, a Manchester-based trainee surveyor, said low cloud levels had prevented the team from taking off for Ireland, leaving them with no option but to postpone the attempt.

‘‘We are all a bit disappointed but we had a bit of a training session in The Lakes instead. We’re hoping the cloud will lift and then we’ll leave for Ireland tomorrow and start climbing on Tuesday.’’

The ascent of Carrantuohill will be followed by an attempt on Slieve Donard, in Northern Ireland, which stands at 852m (2,795ft).

The team will then fly at 130mph across the Irish Sea to Wales to climb Snowdon, 1,085m (3,560ft), fly north to conquer Scafell Pike 978m (3,210ft), in Cumbria, and complete their challenge with the 1,344m (4,409ft) Ben Nevis in Scotland.

Mr Scowcroft, eldest son of Ken Scowcroft, who founded the Swinton Insurance Group, will use his Augusta 109E Power helicopter to make the World Record attempt possible.

He is joined by his 25-year-old Andrew; Mike Barton, 42, an estate agent from Troutbeck, Cumbria; Martin Battersby, 51, a sales manager from Manchester; and John Corry, a 50-year-old antiques dealer from Kentmere, Cumbria.

The team has been trained by mountaineer Chris Bonnington and in a practice attempt they completed the three British peaks in 11 hours and 10 minutes.

If successful, the climbers will raise around £100,000 (€156,000) for the Kingmoor Park Properties Charitable Trust, a charity named after a development site Mr Scowcroft owns in Carlisle.

Should the weather hamper Tuesday’s World Record bid, the team plans to postpone the challenge until the end of the week.