A BURNLEY College boss is celebrating after fulfilling his lifetime's ambition of climbing to Mount Everest base camp.

Tired, breathless from the high altitude and after days of trekking thousands of feet above sea level, Julian Clissold, assistant principal at the college, finally realised his mountaineering dream.

Julian undertook the feat with his son and the pair were guided by a sherpa and a porter on their two-week Himalayan adventure.

It took keen hiker Julian's team seven days to climb to the base camp.

Julian said: "I've always been keen on trekking so a trip like this has always been an ambition for me.

"The Everest base camp is the highest you can go and it lies at about 5,400 metres above sea level, whilst Everest itself is around 6,400 metres.

"To put that into perspective, it's about seven times the height of Ben Nevis." But although he is an experienced walker, Julian was unprepared for how badly he would be affected by Everest's high altitude and he suffered from several sleepless nights through lack of oxygen.

He said: "The worst thing apart from the lack of creature comforts was the lack of oxygen in the air which made it difficult to get to sleep.

"The last day of the trek to get there was the most difficult as I had to stop every ten or 15 minutes just to to get my breath back.

"Obviously, coming back down was a lot easier and it only took two days since it was all downhill.

"The scenery up there is absolutely stunning.

"Nothing can prepare you for the grandeur of the Himalayas and I'd love to go back in the future."