Man completes record-breaking mountain challenge after climbing 742 times in one year

Man completes record-breaking mountain challenge after climbing 742 times in one year17 hours agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleOscar EdwardsBBC WalesChris DanielChris has hiked up to the peak of Pen y Fan and back down again 742 times in one yearA man has climbed south Wales' highest peak for the 742nd in the last year - bringing his record-breaking challenge to an end.Chris Daniel has been hiking 886m (2,906ft) up to the peak of Pen y Fan and back down again two times per day on average.Known to his social media followers as Pen y Fan Dan, Daniel took on the challenge in April in memory of his wife Rita, who died from bowel cancer.Before setting off on his final journey, Daniel said he would "like to think the mountain will be crying today because we're splitting up".When he set off for his first climb on 5 April, Daniel, from Merthyr Tydfil, was aiming to beat the previous record of 365 climbs in one calendar year, set by Des Lally in 2019.But he smashed that, with 366 climbs in just 171 days and decided to set himself a new target of 730 walks in a year.Daniel said after starting he has met thousands of people on the mountain who have offered words of support.The conditions however did make it difficult for him to meet his target and he described the winter months as "really, really tough"."There were months of insane rain, hail, and when it hits you up there you have to wear ski goggles."The weather forecast on the mountain is very, very irregular so you can go up there thinking it's going be okay," he told Radio Wales Breakfast.Daniel said he will not be climbing the mountain again "unless it's sunny" in the future.Chris DanielDaniel set out to do the challenge to keep the "amazing legacy" of his wife Rita aliveChris' wife, Rita, was diagnosed with a rare form of bowel cancer in 2012 when she was 48. She died in 2016.Daniel previously said: "She spent so much of the last f...