Four friends have raised thousands for Big Brothers Big Sisters Auckland with a New Zealand-style climbing challenge.

The climbers were inspired by mountaineer Nirmal Purja’s 14 Peaks project and Jack Keeys, his brother Cameron, Jack’s partner Hannah Carter and Hannah’s sister Sarah powered up 14 North Island mountains in 10 days last November.

It all started in 2021 when Jack applied to be a Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor. The charity matches volunteer mentors with young people who would benefit from having a positive adult role model.

Jack’s application was declined because there were limited funds to facilitate matches for the hundreds of mentors and children already on  the organisation’s waiting list.

That prompted him to devise the 14 Peaks Challenge, which has raised $14,000 and counting for Big Brothers Big Sisters Auckland, enough to cover the intake process for 140 children.

Wilderness spoke with Jack, now mentor to a 10-year-old boy, and team member Sarah about their epic undertaking.

How did you choose the peaks?

Jack: We started with a list of the top 20 North Island mountains. It was important to us to contact the iwi associated with each mountain. There was also the aspect of how do you drive to and climb 14 peaks in 10 days, so there were a couple of mountains we swapped out because we just couldn’t fit them in.

Were you trampers before the challenge?

Jack: We’d done the odd day walk and a couple of Great Walks, but I wouldn’t say that any of us were hikers. On some of the peaks, we pushed the limits a bit, walking through ice or scree.

Sarah: On Pirongia there were a couple of steep cliff faces with chains to climb up, which we weren’t really prepared for. It made it one of the more memorable mountains. After that, the pain and the achy legs, I thought, ‘There’s no way we can climb another mountain tomorrow.’ But it shows just how much you can push through.

Would you do it again?

Jack: After having to hide behind rocks in the middle of a hailstorm on Kaweka J and sliding down Tihia in a downpour, I’m not sure we’ll convince Sarah to do it again.

Sarah: I would do it again, surprisingly. I think we got rain on seven or eight of the 10 days, but all the moments that were scary or I wondered, ‘Why am I doing this?’ made it the most fun experience.

The 14 peaks

Day 1: Pirongia

Day 2: Taranaki

Day 3: Tihia

Day 4: Hauhungatahi

Day 5: Ruapehu

Day 6: Atene Skyline Track (two trigs)*

Day 7: Mitre and Peggy’s Peak

Day 8: Kaweka J

Day 9: Tauhara and Ngongotaha

Day 10: Te Aroha and Karangahake

*Replaced the Tongariro Alpine Crossing due to weather