8-Year-Old Boy Plans to Climb to Everest Base Camp for Charity

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Frankie McMillan, age 8, is about to start his 12-day trek to Everest Base Camp. McMillan has been climbing mountains since he was three years old, according to his mom, Basia McMillan, a mountain guide. Together, the pair has already climbed hundreds of peaks.

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Last September, Frankie McMillan garnered press attention when he became the youngest Briton to summit Mount Olympus. He was seven years old at the time. Now, just months after his eighth birthday, McMillan is preparing for his most intense feat yet. Everest Base Camp sits at an elevation of 5,364 meters (17,598 feet).

As they trek, the McMillans will be raising money for Make-A-Wish Foundation U.K. They’re not new to fundraising, having raised thousands of pounds for the Wasdale Mountain Rescue Team during the Mount Olympus summit, according to the McMillans’ Just Giving fundraiser page.

Young McMillan’s dream is to climb Everest in full, but for now, he’ll have to “settle” for going partway up, to Base Camp. In do so, he hopes to help other children’s wishes come true by raising one pound for every meter—£5,364 total.

In a Reel by BBC Cumbria, McMillan says he’s a bit nervous, but he’s also really excited. He says he’s particularly excited to reach Base Camp “because my mum said we could build, like, five snowmen and have a snowball fight.”

Here he is announcing his plans on YouTube on his eighth birthday:

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