A climbing club in Hitchin is aiming to "climb Everest" in order to raise money towards their new extension.

Climb Hitchin, which is based in The Priory School, is inviting the public to join in with their attempt to complete 8,848 metres of climbing - the height of Mount Everest.

The club's climbing wall will be extended from seven lines to 17, but the club are now raising money for the extra climbing holds needed for the wall.

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The event will take on Sunday, December 11, between 10am and 4pm.

A raffle and a cake sale will also take place on the day to help raise funds.

All visitors are welcome, but climbers must be aged five or above and under-18s must be accompanied by an adult.

Climb Hitchin founder Hannah Morgan-Gray told the Comet: "We wanted to do something to raise money so that we could have lots of interesting routes to climb on the new walls when they're put up.

"We are limited with the amount of holds that we have currently.

"We wanted to come up with ideas and the school wanted to support that fundraiser as well.

"We wanted to have a target to get to and we thought 'well, there's nothing better than Mount Everest'! 

"After working out how high that was, and how many metres of our wall was, we put a bit of a plan together.

The Comet: Funds are being raised for extra climbing holds, to use on the extended wall.Funds are being raised for extra climbing holds, to use on the extended wall. (Image: Climb Hitchin)

"It's a great way to involve the community to come and see what it's all about, and be part of something as well."

Speaking of the benefits of climbing, Hannah continued: "There are absolutely loads!

"It is a really good physical, all-body workout.

"Lots of people think it is about arm strength, and pulling on your arms.

"They say 'you must have really strong arms to climb', but you don't it's much more about core strength, your legs and your feet.

"It is really good mentally, because the climbs and different routes - with grades of difficulty - can present a real challenge in that sense.

"It's like solving a puzzle. You are so focussed on climbing, it's called 'flow state', so all you are thinking about is that climb.

"All the pressures of your day job, or other stresses of the day, just go out of the window and all you can focus on is the actual climbing."