A Dundee woman completed a charity challenge at the weekend to scale Scotland’s highest mountain wearing only a bikini.
Hairdresser Jolene Clark (24) climbed Ben Nevis on Saturday wearing next to nothing to raise funds for the cystic fibrosis unit at Ninewells Hospital after losing her brother Stuart to the condition just before Christmas.
She came up with the bikini idea to stand out from the 110,000 other hikers who walk to the summit of the 4406ft peak every year.
Her preparatory training regime included kick boxing sessions and weekly workouts. She even hired a personal trainer to get ready for the challenge, which saw her battling chilly temperatures, drizzly rain and wind.
Jolene, who was accompanied on the hike by her brother, Andrew, said, “Everything went to plan it was just amazing. We started early and I finished within six-and-a-half hours.
“It was cold, but I kept putting Vaseline on my skin and I had a fleece covering my shoulders. Andrew was like my walking wardrobe he was carrying our food and extra clothes. The mountain was full of people and a lot of them knew why I was doing the challenge, so I got a lot of donations on the way up.”
Members of Jolene’s family travelled up to Fort William to meet her when she finished. They set up camp at the foot of the mountain and had a celebration.
Since word got out about Jolene’s charity hike, she has had donations from all over Scotland and is now well on the way to raising £3000.
She said, “My brother wanted money to go towards research and I thought Ninewells would be the best place. Stuart was very much one for getting on with life and I wanted to do something that would reflect that.”