Aberdeen boy, 8, becomes youngest Scot to scale Kilimanjaro in 'unforgettable' trip with father

An 8-year-old boy has become the youngest Scot to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

Amos Noble, of Aberdeen, reached the peak with his father, John-William, and fought sickness and dizziness to battle hours of steep climbing to reach the top of the mountain, which stands at some 5,895 metres.

It is the second attempt made by the father and son to reach the top of Africa’s highest mountain, with the pair smashing the challenge earlier this week.

READ MORE: 14-year-old Edinburgh school pupil climbs Kilimanjaro after being inspired by his teacher

Both Amos and his father are keen climbers, with the pair often scaling mountains across Scotland.

On top of the world: Amos Noble, 8, with his dad, John-William, at the peak of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. | Contributed

And while Kilimanjaro proved a true test for the intrepid duo, Mr Noble said it had been an “unforgettable trip with my boy”, with his son overcoming the many challenges they faced on the route “without complaint”.

Mr Noble, a pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Aberdeen, said: “It is no exaggeration to say that this would be a huge mental and physical challenge for most adults and I am genuinely surprised at how gifted and capable my son has proved in this area.

“The journey took several days of many, many hours of hiking. On the third day Amos had struggled with altitude adjustment and we had a serious discussion about the fact that conditions would become worse and the key was how he would react to them.

“Despite being sick, the challenges with breathing, the increasing dizzy feeling at high altitude, and the many hours of steep climbing, he did it without complaint.”

READ MORE: Edinburgh’s rowing Maclean brothers reach Australia after breaking Pacific record

Amos becomes the youngest Scot to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, with previous records set by Lily Garthwaite, from Helensburth, who reached the summit at age 11 in January 2016. Before that, the Scottish record for the youngest climber to scale the mountain was held by Liam Byrne, from Stonehaven, in 2014.

Last year, Lochlan McCole, 14, from Edinburgh, reached the top in a fundraising mission for Mary’s Meals, which raises funds to feed schoolchildren across Africa.

In 2023, Ognjen Zivkovic, of Germany, set a new world record for the youngest person ever to climb to the top of Kilimanjaro when he was just five-years-old.