The keen hillwalker has been 'Munro bagging', scaling Scottish mountains over 3000 feet, for the last 15 years – but upped the stakes dramatically by opting to climb Mount Everest to make money for a cancer fund.

The 41-year-old from Denny tackled the challenge with his best pal Graham Anderson.

Their target was to climb 17,700 feet to the base camp of the world's highest mountain.

The intrepid pair paid £1700 each to make the trip to the Himalayas, flying from Kathmandu into Lukla and passing through Namche Bazaar before starting their assault on the most famous peak on the planet which sits 29,029 feet above sea level.

They climbed eight hours a day for eight days to reach their goal – only for Frank to be left disappointed by missing his climbing hero Sir Ranulph Fiennes by ONE day!

Frank, manager of the bar and diner at Gala Bingo in Falkirk, admitted: "It was hard work but we were thrilled to make it.

''The only downer was not meeting Fiennes who had left the day before we arrived. I was gutted when I heard that."

Despite that disappointment, Frank's effort has paid off and he expects to raise £2500 for Breakthrough for Breast Cancer.

He said: "Graham and I have done around 100 of the 284 Munros, quite a few of them more than once.

''We were coming down Ben Ledi one day when he asked what was the one climb I'd like to do before I die and I said it would be to trek through the Himalayas and go to the Everest base camp.

''We were part of a group of 18 and three never made it due to altitude problems so it was a very humbling experience to stand where so many famous mountaineers had stood before."

Frank has now set his sights on getting to the top one day, although that means a two-week stop at base camp acclimatising to avoid the dangers of altitude sickness.

He also has plans to climb Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, a more modest 19,335 feet high!