More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Climbing Mount Snowdon is quite the feat - doing it in your underwear perhaps an even braver one.
But that didn't stop four childhood friends from Thanet stripping off and conquering the Welsh mountain in a bid to highlight body confidence and raise money for mental health charity Rethink.
Maria Cairns and Lorna Turner, both 37, Abi Gentle-Spens, 35, and Cassie Davey, 26, took on the challenge on Saturday and still can't believe the reception they received.
"It was incredible," said Maria. "Everyone was so supportive.
"People walking down the mountain were saying 'everyone's talking about the girls climbing in their underwear'.
"We weren't sure we were going to go through with it, but body confidence is a massive thing at the moment.
"A lot of our friends suffer from body confidence issues and so we thought 'let's do it for the women'."
The other cause is also, sadly, close to home, with all four wanting to raise money for Rethink.
Maria said: "I lost my dad last year during the pandemic and when we were talking about doing the climb we decided we wanted to do it for mental health, as the girls have their own personal reasons as well.
"We hadn't set up a fundraising page so we're asking people to donate directly to the charity."
Maria admits the initial reason for the climb was to do something after lockdown restrictions started easing.
"It was never the original plan to do it in our underwear," she admitted.
"I can't remember where that idea came from. We didn't tell anyone though as we weren't sure we would go through with it.
"We thought it would be an option if we felt brave enough at the time.
"We wore our underwear but had thick jumpers and coats on because when we were doing research about Snowdon we found out that it was cold even when the weather is warm.
"But when we started climbing the mountain it was really hot and we stripped down to our underwear.
"Cassie and Abi were braver and did it completely in their underwear and Lorna and I kept our leggings on until we got to the top."
The women are so thrilled with their achievement and surprised at the interest that they are now planning to take on Ben Nevis in August - wearing just their undergarments.
To donate to Rethink visit https://www.rethink.org.
