A West Lothian woman has returned from a charity expedition to Everest Base Camp.

Sarah Thomson, of Polbeth, was in Nepal for almost three weeks last month for the trek.

She took on the challenge to raise money for Epilepsy Scotland, as her step daughter Lauren suffers from the condition.

Along with a team of other intrepid fundraisers, Sarah spent nine days hiking up to Everest’s South Base Camp - which sits at 5364 metres above sea level - and five days hiking back down it.

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Catching up with the Courier after her journey, Sarah said: “We flew straight into Lukla Airport, which is around 2845 metres, so we flew straight into altitude.

“I was mostly okay with the altitude except for the last day when I had a slight headache, but a few members of our group suffered to different degrees with sickness and a bit of insomnia.”

As well as the numerous training sessions in the Pentlands and hikes up the Scottish munroes Sarah had put in to prepare for the effort, her group spent a few days before properly beginning their trek acclimatising to altitude with short climbs.

“The crew had varying levels of fitness, and I think while I would have made it up there regardless, being slightly more trained definitely helped me to enjoy the experience more,” explained Sarah.

“The shock for me was the effort just to take a few small steps when you got high up.

“It was very varied terrain on the route - some days we’d do a steep stretch that would peter out into a valley, and sometimes it would be a little flatter.

“The Sherpa guides were funny too, because they would tell us we were coming to a relatively flat section, but there’s flat and then there’s Nepali flat, and they’re not the same thing.

“The journey wasn’t particularly dangerous, but the last day had a lot more rocks and loose footing, and there was a ridge we had to cross in blizzard conditions.”

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She added: “The most difficult thing for me was definitely the cold. It was so bad you didn’t feel like you could ever get warm again. The last night at base camp I actually slept in all of my clothes.”

Sarah, who works in IT for Iron Mountain Ltd in Livingston, is pleased to be home after her adventure.

“It was a great experience, but I am glad to be home,” she said. “It’s nice to have proper bathrooms again, and be able to shower regularly.

“We showered maybe twice during the whole trek, and when we got back to the hotel I think everyone was so relieved.

“I feel like I’m a lot closer to my step-daughter Lauren for all the fundraising work we did together, and I think my husband and my family are really proud of me for just going out there and getting it done.”

Sarah is not far off reaching her target of raising £5000.

To donate, visit: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/sarah-thomson11