High life for Wolverhampton's Lee in 100 peaks challenge

He has set himself the challenge of standing on the highest points in 100 different countries.

Since the start of 2017, this has taken him to the summit of 17 landmarks in destinations such as Singapore, Vietnam, Qatar, Kosovo, Sweden and Finland.

And now the 34-year-old is more than halfway through his challenge having crossed off 56 from his list thanks to his overseas travels throughout the year.

His recent trips have included climbing Sweden’s highest mountain Kebnekaise, which stands at 8,720ft, where he braved the elements to spend two nights sleeping under a tarpulin sheet to help save money on the flights by only taking hand luggage.

Speaking about the first night, he said: “It certainly dropped cold during the night, which was made worse by not having a front on my shelter, but my Marmot sleeping bag was more than up to the test.”

While in Liechtenstein the roofer, who lives in Bilston, had to forge his own path to the top of the 8,526ft-high Grauspitz.

“Despite Liechtenstein being one of the smallest countries in the world - 25km by 12km -, it’s highest point Grauspitz is not what you would probably expect. It’s a stunning 2,599m tall mountain with very impressive ridges and steep cliffs.

“Having spending the last few years researching country high points I knew that this mountain is not climbed very often and as a result there are no defined paths to the summit,” said Lee.

He also had to be careful about where he was putting his feet due to loose rocks.

“The rocks were a mix of large and small at first but they became smaller the higher I climbed as the ground became steeper.

“This did cause me to slide several times although I made sure I kept my other foot firmly planted on a secure rock at all times to prevent a fall,” he explained.

But Lee says the views at the summit more than made up for having to navigate the tricky terrain.

“There was a false summit beforehand with a very steep and long drop to the west side. I lowered myself down a few large rocks to reach a small saddle and then up to the real summit. I was greeted with fantastic views and some crazy looking ridges,” he added.

Lee said overall his mission was going well, adding: “I’m still on target to reach 100 by the end of 2019 as I have a five-country high-point Caribbean trip planned for January that will take me to 61 out of 100 which is in line with where I wanted to be.”

Another achievement this year for Lee, who began his highest points challenge in 2015, was being included on a list of 101 Inspiring British adventurers.

He said: “The list includes many famous and very inspirational household names such as Bear Grylls, Astronaut - Tim Peake, Ben Fogle, Olympian - James Cracknell, Richard Branson, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Steve Backshall to name just a few.

“It therefore goes without saying that I am very pleased, humbled and excited to be named amongst these 101 inspirational British adventurers.”

During the past year, Lee has also completed a side project which has seen him seek out the highest point in all of England’s 48 counties.

They included including Turners Hill near Rowley Regis, Cheeks Hill on the border of Staffordshire and Derbyshire, which stands at 1,705 ft, and the 1,770 ft Brown Clee Hill in Shropshire.

He also paid a visit to landmarks including Dunkery Beacon in Somerset, Mickle Fell in Durham, Black Hill in West Yorkshire and Whitehorse Hill in Oxfordshire.