A BURLEY-IN-WHARFEDALE man was feeling literally on top of the world after trekking to the Everest Base Camp for charity.

Graham Smith, 50, raised an astonishing £15,000 for the NSPCC after taking on the 16-day trek through Nepal.

Mr Smith, a company director, made the trip as part of a group of 18 people.

Mr Smith said conditions were often arduous - with temperatures dropping to minus 50 degrees.

Mr Smith, of Moor Lane, said: "It was much harder than I think any of us thought it would be, in particular it was much colder than we could ever have imagined.

"Two people dropped out because it was so cold. One night the temperatures reached minus 51 degrees Centigrade and everything inside the tent was covered in ice and frozen.

"When it was minus 51 we were eight days walk from the nearest road so we really couldn't go home.

"You dream of a warm bath and a hot drink. You think of home."

Mr Smith, who has one son Mark, aged 20, had put in plenty of training - but says the altitude made the mountainous trek doubly difficult.

He said: "The effort at 18,000ft is quite difficult. Everything seems about 15 times as hard."

But Mr Smith says reaching the summit was worth all the hard work. "It is a sense of achievement but we were looking forward to going home too."

Mr Smith would like to thank everyone who sponsored him and offered their support, especially his wife Diane, who co-ordinated his fundraising events.