A GWENT man has completed a mammoth challenge – climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest on his stairs at home.

It is the second time that Matthew Creel from Abertillery has turned to his stairs to climb a mountain – after taking on the challenge of climbing Mt Kilimanjaro at home back in April.

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Mr Creel took to the initial challenge during the UK-wide lockdown as a thank you to the NHS and to raise money for mental health charity Mind and returned to the task during the second national lockdown.

He began at midday on Friday, October 30 and finished 38 hours later, completing 2,949 flights of the stairs (and descents too) – the equivalent of climbing all 8,848m of the world’s tallest mountain. In the process, he has raised more than £1,000.

“After every 100 flights, I had a 10-minute break and then went again," he said. "In total, I had about three hours sleep so I would just sleep for around half an hour at a time and then get back to it. I would have a 10-minute break each hour to get some nutrition in and iced the legs.”

Mr Creel had planned to take the challenge on at a point in November, however, when Wales went into the national lockdown on October 23, he decided to bring it forward to during the lockdown.

South Wales Argus:

“Once I completed the first one, with the height of Kilimanjaro, I wondered if I could do Everest as I’d done the second tallest mountain in the world, so wondered if I could complete the tallest mountain.

“I was planning on doing it next month but when they announced a lockdown, I thought to myself, well I’d done the last one during the lockdown and its always a good opportunity to have a crack at it. “

The aim for this challenge was to raise money and awareness for mental health. During the first lockdown, Mr Creel set up a Facebook group for people to talk openly about and ask for help and advice on mental health issues, and has used exercise to help with his own struggles and has seen the benefit that physical activity can have.

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“I know there’s a lot of people struggling right now," he said. "If I could just inspire a few people to maybe get up and move and seek out support, then I would be happy.”

The Facebook group, called Tidy Butt, is growing everyday and many people have felt the benefits of the group. Mr Creel said: “It’s just gone from strength to strength. I think we have around 1,000 members now and its people talking, interacting and engaging with their mental health coping strategies and things in terms of keeping active.

“The number of messages I’ve had from people who have found the group helpful has been incredible.

“And I hope to raise the profile of the group through the challenge so that people know that there is support available, whether it is through a group like mine or from a professional.”

The group is also set to expand once the coronavirus restrictions allow as Mr Creel has plans to set up including walking groups and wellness walks where people can make friends and talk about their issues or coping strategies while improving their health and wellbeing.