A GROUP of walkers who conquered the dizzying heights of Everest during a three-week hike are settling back into ordinary life after their experience in the Himalayas.

Amy Major Rab Lundie, the leader of the 29 walkers from Westbury 2 Everest, said he was delighted with the group for conquering their fears and attempting the trek, which helped them to raise £4,800 for Maiti Nepal, a sex trafficking charity and a school in Nepal, which had been flattened by the recent earthquake.

He said: "We returned last month but it was absolutely brilliant. I was pleasantly surprised with the performance of the group but I shouldn't have been as not many people would have endured 14 months of training for nothing.

"I don't think anyone returned disappointed. It was wonderful from start to finish and the group got on without any real niggles or arguments, which is fantastic."

Sadly seven people had to drop out mid-trek due to punishing altitude sickness, which was made worse by the constant changes in temperature during the journey.

"The weather we had was by far the worst I have experienced. In some cases we had all four seasons in one day.

"Credit to the group, though, because many of them had never been away from home for more than a few days and many had never lived out of a bag or tent before."