Archant London's head of circulation, Steve Fenton, has climbed the highest mountain in Wales, Mount Snowdon.

The newspaper man braved 100mph winds and horizontal hail, but despite atrocious weather conditions - which forced him to come down the mountain and start all over again - he finally reached the 3,500ft summit.

He also raised £1,500 for Breast Cancer Care.

Steve embarked on the challenging Grib Goch route with a team of climbers, and described the experience as "one of the most harrowing days of my life".

After climbing for three hours in gusty winds and rain the team was forced to take shelter in a hole in the rock and eventually abandoned the first attempt.

Steve said: "We encountered the strongest winds I have ever had the misfortune of experiencing, approx 100mph.

"This bolt-hole became our home for what seemed an eternity. Every time we stuck our heads out the wind, rain and hail had become even more savage.

"After several hours we decided that rather than spend the night in a freezing cold hole in the rock we would try and get off this slice of living hell and get back to civilization."

After a two-day wait conditions improved enough for Steve to make it to the snowy summit.

He said: "It took us approximately four-and-a-half hours to get to the summit, and my feelings on reaching the top were a mixture of fear, relief and elation."