A SALTASH adventurer is preparing to take on the challenge of a lifetime as he attempts to make Cornish mountaineering history while raising money for a charity that supported his family through cancer.

Matt Holwill, 21, will spend 19 days trekking through the Himalayas this October, travelling to Everest Base Camp before attempting to summit Island Peak (6,189m) and Lobuche East (6,119m).

If successful, Matt believes he could become the youngest person – and possibly the first from Cornwall – to successfully climb both Himalayan peaks.

“I’ve been planning something like this for a while now,” he said. “I think it started about two years ago when I went up to Snowdon with my mates, and since then I’ve just become addicted to doing stuff like that.

“Last year I did Mount Toubkal, which is the highest mountain in North Africa, and that felt like a stepping stone towards proper mountaineering rather than just climbing a normal mountain.

“I’d been thinking about doing Everest Base Camp for a while, but I thought I’m probably not going to go back to that part of the world anytime soon, so I might as well do the full experience and take on two other mountains as well.”

Matt is also using the expedition to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support, a charity with special meaning for him and his family.

In 2014, when Matt was just nine years old, his mum Judy was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer and given only a 20 per cent chance of living another five years.

Matt said that, at the time, he did not fully understand the seriousness of the diagnosis, other than knowing cancer was something bad. He watched his mum go through surgery and chemotherapy but said she never showed him the difficulties she was facing.

“Coming home from school and seeing a smile on her face rather than a grimace, which at the time was the only important thing to me, taught me what real strength looks like,” he said.

That determination is something Matt hopes to draw on when he begins his summit attempts, where the oxygen available is around half that at sea level.

Judy has now been cancer-free for almost a decade and volunteers for the same organisation that supported her, helping others affected by cancer at The Mustard Tree Macmillan Cancer Support Centre in Plymouth.

“It’s a charity that supported my mum when she was diagnosed with cancer and, after she was cleared, she started volunteering for them, so it’s a charity that means a lot to me and my family.”

Matt’s love of the outdoors began through Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, but he said a spontaneous trip to Snowdon was what really sparked his passion.

“One of my mates sent me a video of sunrise on Snowdon and asked if I wanted to do it,” he said. “I finished work at 8pm, drove up there, arrived at about 1am, and then we climbed it. Ever since then I’ve been hooked on doing mountains and exploring places like that.”