’There I was, wrapped up head to toe, sitting on a pile of frozen rocks, looking up at the tiniest tip of the tallest peak in the world.’

Kai Botha, from Douglas, has raised about £1,500 after taking on the freezing temperatures and dizzying heights of Mount Everest to reach its base camp. His ’adventure of a lifetime’ was in aid of the Manx Wildlife Trust.

The marketing manager said: ’I felt a great desire to, in some small way, contribute to the protection of the island’s natural heritage.

’I believe that we each of us have a responsibility to protect and preserve this island’s nature reserves, so that future generations can walk these beautiful hills and be inspired as I was to chase a dream.’

Originally from South Africa, Mr Botha reached the 5,380m (17,600 ft) base camp within 12 days of hiking the Nepalese mountain. The camp’s temperature was recorded at minus 25 C.

Graham Makepeace-Warne of the MWT said: ’We are all so proud of Kai’s achievement. As a charity, MWT relies heavily on fundraising and Kai was instrumental in Capital International joining MWT as a Gold Corporate Member earlier this year.

’Kai’s love of nature and the environment is clear to see and he deserves a good break after such a great effort.’

Mr Botha took on the challenge when he found himself ’in a rut’ one day last year.

’It was raining outside. It had been raining for a week. It was cold. It was miserable. I was miserable. I was depressed,’ he said.

’As I sat watching something mindless on Netflix (this had become a bit of a habit), I noticed an email notification in my inbox. A link to an article by the New Yorker, titled "The White Darkness"; a stunning tale of one man’s solitary journey across Antarctica. It was a profound read.

’There was a quote in the article that hit me square in the jaw - some lines from Shackleton on his fateful 1907 Nimrod expedition.’

Kai’s 12 day trek - inspired by the quote - covered 150 kilometres with the highest altitude being 5,420 meters above sea level at Cho La Pass. The team on average trekked for seven hours every day.

On day four, Mr Botha said he was ’walking with the biggest grin on my face’ while surrounded by the huge peaks.

As much as the trek had its ups, it did not come without its share of downs as there was ice and snow build-up due to it being winter and Mr Botha was also hit by altitude sickness.

Not giving in, the team made it to the base camp ’shivering and knackered’.

’It had been a dream of mine for so long and now here I was, living that dream,’ he said. ’As we set off on our journey home I looked back and up at Everest one last time. I couldn’t help but wonder, what would the view be like at the top?’