A comedy duo have achieved the Guinness World Records title for the highest altitude stand-up comedy gig while donning gold catsuits on Mount Everest.
Ellie Gibson and Helen Thorn – or as they are better known, the Scummy Mummies – performed at 17,417ft (5,309m) at Sagarmatha, Solukhumbu, Mount Everest in Nepal to a “chilly” audience” of fellow climbers, mountaineers and “bemused” Sherpas.
Despite some unintended hiccups including the 30-minute set needing to be performed 70m lower than expected due to global warming, the pair managed to find a spot high enough to secure the record on March 29.
“It was a tough gig! We were freezing cold in our gold catsuits, and the audience looked pretty chilly too,” Ms Gibson said.
“But they were brilliant, cheering us on, and it was an amazing experience.
“It wasn’t our easiest gig ever, but it was definitely the most memorable.”
Ms Gibson said that seeing Mount Everest “under the stars was just amazing”.
“There was no one around and it was totally silent. The glacier was glowing in the moonlight and it felt like being on another planet,” she added.
“With all the excitement and exhaustion of doing the gig, then the stress of trying to eat and get into bed before it got too cold, I hadn’t really had a moment to appreciate the magnitude of what we’d achieved.
“But it hit me then, in the silence, while looking at the most spectacular view I’d ever seen, and weeing.”
The pair also contended with altitude sickness, a lack of sleep and even lost their original audience because of an emergency airlift, but were adamant on achieving the record, which was set to mark 10 years of their business partnership with Scummy Mummies, as well as the duo’s 10-year friendship.
Both women have supported each other through personal challenges, including Ms Thorn’s divorce and Ms Gibson’s son Joe being born nine weeks prematurely.
More than £15,000 was raised from the feat, which is to go to Borne, a medical research charity which funds research to prevent premature birth and improve outcomes for mothers and babies, and which the women are ambassadors for.
Ms Gibson said: “My son Joe was born nine weeks early in December 2014.
“It was a very scary time, and there were moments when we didn’t know if he was going to make it.
“Our story has a happy ending, but I wouldn’t wish what we went through on anyone, and I know the outcome could have been very different.”
Borne’s chief executive officer David Badcock said that he is “proud” of the duo for how much they have raised.
“We are incredibly proud and grateful for the amazing fundraising that our ambassadors Ellie Gibson and Helen Thorne have achieved”, he said.
“The money Ellie and Helen have raised will go towards funding vital research to advance our knowledge, improving the lives of mothers and babies, and helping us with our mission to end premature birth – everywhere and forever.”
