SUPER-FIT ex-soldier Adam Elcock is gearing up to take on Europe's highest mountain before kayaking 100miles through France to raise money for wounded service personnel.

Adam, 37, and his wife Claire have raised tens of thousands of pounds for forces charities over the last 10 years in memory of Claire's first husband Leigh Mitchelmore.

RAF officer Mitchelmore was one of 14 crew members on board a Nimrod spy plane in September 2006 when it suffered a catastrophic in-flight fire and subsequently crashed in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Every serviceman on board was killed.

Adam, who lives in Highcliffe, will be setting off at the end of the month to embark on a two-day climb to the summit of Mont Blanc in the Alps.

At a whopping 4,808 metres, Mont Blanc is the highest peak in Western Europe.

On Friday, April 28, Adam and three friends will be skiing 'up-hill' through the deep off-piste snow, then when this is no longer possible will be climbing to the top.

"Doing this in the winter will make the challenge more demanding," explained father-of-four Adam.

And while altitude sickness and the harsh conditions bring their own worries - Adam said his biggest concern is avalanches.

"We will have four days of pre-training before we climb to ensure we are all well versed with avalanche safety," he said.

"At the moment I'm feeling quite confident about it but I know that around 90 per cent of people fail the climb on their first attempt."

Once the climbers have reached the top they intend to raise a specially designed flag into the summit - then it should be a much quicker journey back down the slopes.

The following month, on May 26, Adam will be heading back to France to join a group of former and wounded servicemen from New Milton-based charity Pilgrim Bandits for a 100 mile kayak along the Gironde River.

The group will be retracing the steps of the WW2 Cockleshell heroes who raided Nazi-occupied Bordeaux in December 1942 as part of ‘Operation Frankton’.

According to Adam this will be a three-day challenge which includes camping near the river at night.

Speaking to the Echo, the chartered surveyor, said he wanted to do something "quite extreme" to make the fundraising campaign worthwhile.

"We have been supporting Pilgrim Bandits for years they are a great charity and I just want to braise as much money as possible," he added.

Pilgrim Bandits was set up in 2007 to organise extreme sports excursions for wounded former service personnel, and recent trips have included the Norwegian fjords and the Yukon River in Canada.

Anyone interested in sponsoring Adam go to totalgiving.co.uk/mypage/elcock.

Businesses who would like to sponsor the challenge and get a mention on the flag should email adam@elcockassociates.co.uk.