Ribble Valley family including 12-year-old twins complete epic trek to Mount Everest Base Camp

Craig Holden, wife Sally and their sons Ethan and Lucas, who attend Bowland High School, travelled to Nepal to celebrate Craig’s 50th birthday in style – a 15 day 120km trek to base camp on the world’s highest peak.

"I wanted to do something special to mark my 50th,” Craig explained. “Sally and I had done a lot of travelling before we had the children but we’d always wanted to do Everest Base Camp. It’s so iconic.

"Obviously the boys are still very young but they were excited about the challenge so we thought why not. We’re quite an active family and this just seemed the perfect opportunity to do it together.”

And the weather gods certainly shone down kindly on the family from Waddington as they were treated to clear blue skies and stunning views of the impressive peaks of the Himalayas throughout, as Craig explained.

"The weather was absolutely glorious on the way up. The scenery was so stunning and I kept saying to the boys how lucky we were. Ethan and Lucas were little superstars and soon became very popular on the mountain with lots of other walkers commenting on how young they were.

"At times it was brutal and Ethan had to contend with a stomach bug at one point. People were saying most young families would go to Disneyland for their school holidays but this was something else.”

Craig, who works for Lancashire County Council and is a member of Barnoldswick Clarion Club, is no stranger to epic challenges and is even a Guinness World Record holder for previous efforts on his racing scooter.

He is now looking into getting some acknowledgment for his sons’ remarkable achievement reaching Everest Base Camp.

He added: “I haven’t been able to find out yet if twins so young have completed it so hopefully the boys will get some recognition. It was an amazing experience, a massive achievement and I don’t think the quite understand the scale of it just yet.”