Couple tackle notorious Himalayan hike for charity

Olivia Shanks (left) and Rik de Louche (right) have set off on the Great Himalaya Trail (GHT)

A Jersey couple had to be airlifted from a mountain pass with altitude sickness during their ongoing attempt to complete a notoriously challenging long-distance hike to raise money for mental health charities.

Rik de Louche, 39, and Olivia Shanks, 39, are tackling the Great Himalaya Trail, which organisers say has been completed by fewer than 500 people.

They started at the beginning of October and hope to finish in the next fortnight.

The route was founded in 2009 and involves climbing150,000m (492,126ft) which is the equivalent of climbing up Mount Everest almost 17 times.

The pair say they're enjoying the GHT despite the setbacks

The couple is raising money for Mind Jersey and Jaya Mental Health which provides support in Nepal.

They had initially planned to run the route, but amended their plans after realising it "wasn't feasible".

Mr de Louche said: “On the first day, we went straight up into a high mountain pass and I got sick and I spent three or four days struggling to stay conscious on the trail but we got to a hospital and I felt good again,” he said.

They faced further challenges in a remote area when the weather deteriorated.

Rik and Liv are facing temperatures that drop to -15 degrees at night

Mr de Louche said they both again got attitude sickness "quite badly” meaning they “could barely move and were nauseous”.

He said: “We ended up getting trapped between four mountain passes and none of the porters could find us, so we had to get helicopter rescued and were checked out in Kathmandu."

The doctor they saw gave them approval to resume the hike and they were transported back to the same position.

"We’ve had some really high highs and also very low lows... but it’s all to raise money for these mental health charities”, he said.