THEY may be young but sister and brother Fiona and Lewis Hodgson are on top of the world.
The pair have climbed every single mountain in the Lake District.
Fiona, 10, and Lewis, eight, reached the summit of all 214 mountains in the national park – including the two highest peaks in England, Scafell and Scafell Pike.
The Marsden children, along with their parents Martyn and Jane, took two-and-a-half years to complete the so-called Wainwright Peaks.
Lewis was only five when he caught the climbing bug.
Father Martyn, a finance director, said: “He’s got a lot of stamina.
“When they were younger we used to carry them up but we were able to do more as they got older.
“My wife and I have done the Wainwrights many times and I did them when I was 18. Our parents have done them too, so it has been passed down from generation to generation.”
The children – who go to Huddersfield Grammar School – like to chat along the way.
Martyn, a member of Pennine Rock Climbing Club, said: “We talk about parties and they get complete attention from us so they like it.
“It’s a good way of spending quality time together.
“We give them Easter egg treats at points along the way to keep them sweet if they are struggling a bit up the hills.
“And they like to run around and we point things out to them along the way.
“One of the mountains was hard-packed with snow and they had to wear crampons on the way down, but they can climb in all sorts of weather.
“We got up early to climb Scafell Pike and so it was really quiet.
“We reached the peak and had half an hour at the top just to ourselves which was really nice and the kids got out their pads and sketched the mountains.”
Martyn and Jane – who is a physiotherapist for Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Trust – are now taking on the challenge of scaling Scotland’s peaks.
Martyn, 47, said: “They are a bit too much for the kids at the moment.
“We’ve started doing a lot of rock climbing and scrambling and canoeing with them now.
“And the kids also run with Holmfirth Harriers.”
