Son completes peaks challenge in climber father's memory
Alex and Mike arriving on Mull after their swim
At a glance
Friends Alex Moran and Mike Coppock have completed what has been described as the first island Munros triathlon
They climbed 13 mountains over 3,000ft in memory of Alex's father Martin Moran
The acclaimed Tyneside-born mountaineer died in an avalanche in 2019
- Published
The son of an acclaimed climber who was killed in the Himalayas has completed a Scottish mountains challenge in his father's memory.
Martin Moran and seven others died after an avalanche in the in the Nanda Devi region in May 2019.
The Highlands-based, Tyneside-born climber had been leading a group on the ascent of an unclimbed and unnamed 21,250ft (6,477m) summit.
His son Alex has completed a challenge to climb 13 Scottish islands Munros in 32 hours and 22 minutes, accompanied by his friend Mike Coppock in one single, non-stop attempt.
Alex on the Inaccessible Pinnacle on Skye
The men ran, cycled and swam to reach the mountains to complete what has been described as the first-ever island Munros triathlon, and one of the UK's toughest events.
No other mountain triathlon with as many metres of elevation, technical climbing difficulty, summits and distance in one non-stop effort is known to have been recorded.
Munros are Scottish mountains over 3,000ft (914.4m).
The two men did the challenge to raise £10,000 for the Martin Moran Foundation, a charity supporting young people from diverse backgrounds to pursue adventure in the mountains.
The triathlon on Scotland's west coast involved 6,461m (21,197ft) of ascent and included a mile-long (3km) swim in the Sound of Mull and covering a total distance of 192 miles (309km) between the mountains on Skye and Mull.
The men ran, cycled and swam to reach the mountains, including on Skye's Cuillin Ridge
Alex Moran is a geography teacher and mountaineering instructor in Lochcarron in the Highlands and Mr Coppock, from Dollar, Clackmannanshire, is an English teacher and climber living in Spain.
Martin Moran's name is legendary in UK climbing circles.
Among his many achievements included the first completion of all Munros - more than 280 mountains - in a single winter season, which he did with his wife Joy in the 1980s.
In 1993, he and fellow climber Simon Jenkins climbed 75 4,000m (13,123ft) Alpine peaks in 52 days.
The men cycled between the different ranges involved, rather than using motorised transport, making it the first self-propelled traverse of Alpine peaks of 4,000m.