York-born mountaineer Jack Harrison braves dream Alps peaks adventure

Jack Harrison, who was born in York and lived in Shipton until he was 24, completed the gruelling task of climbing the highest mountains in France, Austria and Italy in just one week.

Jack, who now lives in Wetherby, said: "I took on this challenge as mountaineering and climbing have always been a passion of mine and after years of doing it in the UK, I wanted to set my sights further afield and see what I was capable of.

Jack during the climb of Mont Blanc (Image: Supplied)

"Luckily for me, I already had plans to work in the Alps in 2023 so it’s seemed like the perfect opportunity to do some mountaineering while I was there.

"I had a week spare and I always knew Mont Blanc was the big one I wanted to do. However, after doing that I caught the bug and wanted to do more."

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Between June 5 and 7, he took on Mont Blanc, which stands at 4,807-metres tall, making it the highest mountain in not only France, but all of the Alps. Jack took on the Gouter Route up the mountain - and he said the weather was "perfect" for all three days of the trek.

On June 8, Jack took on Gran Paradiso, the highest peak in Italy at 4,061-metres. He said this climb started in the worst possible way, as they had to take a two-hour detour on the journey to the mountain due to a road closure, but this didn't dampen their spirits and they reached the peak in just over three hours.

The climbers faced some tough weather conditions during the expeditions (Image: Supplied)

"Moving at speed while at high altitude was a real eyeopener for me and it certainly gives you an appreciation for how much more difficult it is to do in comparison to at sea level," Jack said.

Then on June 11 came the Grossglockner, the highest peak in Austria at 3,798-metres tall. The climbers completed the Studlgrat route up the mountain - and Jack said this was an "easy but enjoyable day" in comparison to the other two mountains.

"We made the summit at 10.30am and descended via the normal route," he said.

A couple of weeks later, Jack set his sights on climbing the Mattherhorn on the border of Switzerland and Italy. This was the last mountain on his "tick list" - and he said he had high hopes for the climb.

A picture approaching the summit of Mont Blanc (Image: Suppled)

Jack said that while on the Matterhorn he saw the air ambulance fly past frequently due to a number of injuries, but his team made it to the summit and descended safely after what Jack described as "one of his longest days ever in the mountains."

The mountaineer said he now dreams of summitting Mount Everest one day, but first he aims to climb Aconcagua - the highest mountain in the Southern Hemisphere.