'I'm climbing Snowdon in firefighter kit, like dad'

Climbing a mountain sounds like a hard enough feat to most people, but firefighterLou Needham is planning to do it while wearing full kit and breathing apparatus, just as her father did 40 years ago.

Lou, from Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS), will climb the Llanberis Path of Yr Wyddfa, also known as Snowdon, on 11 April to raise money for charity.

The 34-year-old crew manager will take on the Fire Walk 2026 "under air", which means she will breathe solely using the cylinders on her back, removing her mask only for a five‑minute hydration break each hour.

She said the challenge came about from a "crazy idea my dad had on a night shift over 40 years ago".

Her father David Needham - who is retired from NFRS - completed the challenge with a colleague in 1986, while two firefighters from Central Fire Station in Nottingham did it in 2010, and now Lou will take it on.

David said the equipment and kit Lou would wear weighed about 15 kilograms (2.4 stone) and was much lighter than the equipment he used, which he was said about double the weight.

He added: "She's much more at risk of heatstroke because of the equipment she is using, which is much more insulated nowadays and traps the heat in.

"We will be keeping a close eye on her and trained firefighters will be with her and have the right first aid equipment.

"It's about five miles from the Llanberis fire station to the summit. The challenge is to complete it one-way in the kit."

The climb will start from Llanberis fire station, and Lou is raising money for two charities which support emergency service workers - PTSD999, a mental health organisation, and the National Red Plaque Fire Service Memorial.

Lou, from Derby, said the rules, which were set in 1986, were you could only break your seal - that means taking the face mask off - for a maximum of five minutes every hour for water for safety reasons.

"Other than that you are under air the whole time."

She added: "I like challenges and doing things to push myself, I thought 'I can do that'."

Lou - who started working as a firefighter in Derbyshire in 2019 before moving to Nottinghamshire in 2024 - said she would be wearing the most up-to-date fire kit.

She added it is "really good at keeping heat out, but that also means it keeps heat in".

"That will be one of the big things we'll be contending with - I'll be wearing this big kit for hours... and wearing the mask.

"It's the breathing, its the heat, [and] the weight of the kit is about 20% of my body weight, so that adds to the endurance as well."

She added: "I want to make my dad, my colleagues, family proud."

Reflecting on the challenge 40 years ago, David said: "You are almost in your own little world...the thing that accompanies you most is the sound of your own breathing, which after a couple of hours almost drives you insane."

The 67-year-old raised money for the Fire Service Benevolent Fund - now the Fire Fighters Charity, as well as for Nottingham City Hospital's burns unit, because in 1979 they treated David's colleagues, who he said "were very seriously burned at an incident in Ollerton".

David said Lou's mother Miriam - who passed away in 2021 - worked in the fire service control room.

"I know she would be right behind Lou. I really am very proud of what she is doing."

He added: "When I did this challenge, Louise wasn't even born.

"We very much have the fire service in her blood; me, her mum and her. I think it is fantastic that she is doing it."

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