RUTH Miles, a 14 year old Scout from Romsey, has just returned from an unforgettable trip to Nepal and Everest Base Camp.

Ruth, a pupil in Year 10 at Mountbatten School and an Explorer Scout in Romsey, was previously with the 3rd Romsey (Braishfield) Scout Group.

She had been in training for nearly two years in preparation for her fantastic journey, which was part of the Sky High adventure - a bid by Hampshire Scouts to put a Scout on top of Everest to celebrate the Scouting Centenary this year.

Back in November 2005, Ruth responded to an e-mail for anyone interested in joining the Nepal trip to get in touch. Ten Scouts from across Hampshire were chosen on their enthusiasm and Ruth became both the youngest member and the only girl in the 'Nepal '07' team.

Training took place roughly one weekend a month and included canoe training, scrambling in the Lake District, walking in Snowdonia, climbing at Dancing Ledge, hiking in the New Forest, snow training in the Cairngorms and lots of fitness training and team work exercises.

On top of this, each member had to raise £3,000, through a variety of fund-raising activities.

The full team - comprising the ten Nepal 07 Scouts and three leaders, the five Sky High team climbers and their two support crew, plus Peter Duncan, the Chief Scout, as cameraman - left the UK on March 24 to fly to Kathmandu, capital of Nepal.

After a day sightseeing and a traditional blessing by Buddhist monks, the team flew to Lukla, a town in the Himalayas at 2840 metres (9317 feet) above sea-level. The next 13 days saw them trek higher into the Himalayas, with three Sherpas to guide them. The trek saw Ruth and the team climb a further 2,100 metres, with visits to Khunde Hospital, Khumjung monastery (where they saw a 'Yeti scalp'!), the Hillary School and, for some, included summitting the peaks of Kala Patthar, to see sunrise over Everest, and Imja Tse (Island Peak).

On April 12, the team split and the Sky High team pressed on to Everest Base Camp to begin their Everest attempt. The Nepal 07 team returned to the village of Pangboche, where they spent the next ten days working on a community project - helping fit out a new house for the village school teachers.

During this time, the Scouts had the opportunity to visit Base Camp (at 5400m/17716 ft) and Ruth got there in time for lunch on April 19 "It was really busy - there were so many tents it took us a while to find the Sky High dome!" she said. "We also visited the Base Camp Bakery - the highest in the world - and had our photo taken at the start of the Everest ascent route.

"We spent the night at Base Camp - which is basically on a glacier covered in rocks. During the night, it was freezing cold and we could hear the glacier creaking and cracking, and the odd rock fall."

The team had another week at Pangboche beforetrekking to Lukla and flying back to Kathmandu on April 30. There was more time for sight-seeing, shopping - and some white-water rafting before they flew back to England.

Ruth is taking her GCSE Statistics exam this year and, looking back on her trip of a lifetime, she said: "The Sherpas really looked after us. They would make breakfast and pitch our tents for us, which took a bit of getting used to as I would expect to do that myself normally. We learnt a few words in Sherpa, which is different to Nepalese, particularly the words for thank you 'ducha' and hot water 'tatapany'. We met a lot of Yaks on the journey, including some really cute baby ones!

" It really was an amazing trip - a unique opportunity. Since the Nepal 07 team returned, we have heard the Sky High team did actually reach the top of Everest, at 6.50am on May 21. It's a fantastic achievement and one that I am really proud to have been a part of."

Does Ruth have any ambition to go back, and perhaps conquer Everest herself? "No, it was great but I think I'd like to see other places in the world first. I really should concentrate on studying for a bit now; I am doing triple sciences at school and want to go on to college, perhaps to do veterinary science." And, now she is back, what were the highlights of the trip for Ruth? "Climbing Kala Patthar and watching the sun rise over Everest, without a doubt!"