Mountain-climbing Shrewsbury doctor reaches new heights

Doctor Adam Booth, aged 40, from the Prescott Surgery in Baschurch, scaled the 8,586m high summit as part of a British expedition team of six people, organised and led by his friend Jon Gupta, a mountain guide based in north Wales.

Adam and his friend then went on to climb Makalu, the fifth highest mountain in the world, towering 8,485 metres above sea level.

Their achievement is all the more amazing for the time they took in reaching both summits and now Doctor Booth hopes to present talks on the climbs to audiences at Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury later this year, with proceeds from these going to Nepalese charities.

The father-of-two said: "Normally it takes two months to reach the summit of Kanchenjunga as you need to acclimatise to the altitude.

"However, I used a new technique involving a machine that helps pre-acclimatisation by simulating high altitude conditions.

"I used the machine for two months several times a day before travelling and slept in a kind of head tent.

"Because of this pre-acclimatisation we were able to reach the summit of Kanchenjunga in two-and-a-half weeks and reached the top on May 12.

"Normally this would have taken two months because of the need to acclimatise.

"Because we had been so successful, both myself and the expedition leader Jon decided to scale another mountain called Makalu.

"This took two days and normally would have involved an eight-week trip.

"The technical climbing side was one thing but the main obstacle was the high altitude involved."

Doctor Booth attended Shrewsbury School and followed in the footsteps of Charles Evans, from Shrewsbury, who led and organised the first ascent on Kanchenjunga in 1955.

Charles Evans was also on the first ascent of Everest in 1953.

Doctor Booth said: "I think that hearing about Charles Evans was one of the reasons I got into climbing and I did two trips to Everest in 2013 and 2018, and by coincidence you can see the two mountains we have just climbed from that summit.

"I can say that I have more than achieved an ambition by climbing both peaks which was literally something beyond my wildest dreams.

"Climbing is my major passion in life and provides a great sense of fulfilment and puts into perspective what is important in life as well as keeping me fit, active and healthy."