Boy, 9, completes Mount Everest base camp trek

Budding mountaineer Rio and his dad Jake have so far raised about £2,000 for a food bank in Derby

A nine-year-old boy and his dad have completed a gruelling 12-day trek to Mount Everest Base Camp.

Rio, of Spondon in Derby, was congratulated by climbers from all over the world as he reached the altitude of 5,364m (17,598ft).

His dad Jake said he cried "happy tears" and was overwhelmed by emotion as they reached their destination on 15 November.

Each day involved a minimum of six hours climbing and, as they climbed higher, Jake, 34, said they struggled to breathe due to lower oxygen levels at altitude.

The father-and-son duo reached base camp after days of gruelling hiking

Jake said the hardest part of the journey was the first climb to the community of Namche Bazar - where they ascended over 1,000m during the day.

Fuelling themselves on "munch bags", which contained flapjacks, raisins, biscuits, chocolates and other goodies, Jake explained how each day would begin.

"We were up at 06:00 in the morning, had breakfast, and then it was hours of climbing until dinner," he said.

"It was basically doing the Yorkshire Three Peaks every day. It was like climbing Ben Nevis every single day up and down."

The journey began unexpectedly, however, as a planned plane flight to Lukla Airport from Nepal's capital Kathmandu was cancelled due to bad weather.

Father and son got there by helicopter instead.

"We weren't expecting it, so it was a nice little surprise," Jake said.

Rio thrived in the mountains, his dad said

At the highest point of the trek that they were able to record, oxygen levels were 76%.

Despite his age, Jake said he was not worried about Rio completing the challenge.

The schoolboy had already conquered Yr Wyddfa - also known as Snowdon - Ben Nevis and Scafell Pike and the Yorkshire Three Peaks challenge.

Jake said: "I was half expecting to carry his bag for him at some point, but he carried on going. If anything, it was the adults that started to wane a bit."

Jake said his son wanted to carry his own day pack throughout the journey, despite others offering to take it for him. Weighing five kilos, it had his water, food, waterproofs and gloves in.

"He wanted to show that he was self-sufficient. I was so proud of him," he said.

"We had so many laughs, we have had some tough times climbing, the best thing for me is always spending time with my lad and adventuring together."

Rio said the challenge was epic and that he had lots of adventures planned for the future.