By Douglas Whitbread via SWNS
A builder has climbed a 3,560ft mountain – with a tumble dryer strapped to his back.
Tommy Dunford, 33, scaled Yr Wyddfa, previously known as Snowdon, yesterday (Sun) with the hulking 40kg appliance.
And he then headed back down again with his heavy load to complete his epic 9.5mile (15.5km) challenge.
The dad-of-three came up with the idea last year as a way to raise money for renovations to his local rugby team’s clubhouse, where he is a coach.
He spent his evening walking around the hills of his hometown of Horbury, West Yorks, with the tumble dryer strapped to his back in preparation for the climb.
Tommy said about completing the challenge, which has so far raised over £6,000: “The money is amazing. It’s all to support the club, and there’s still a little bit going in.
“But the climb was really hard. It was never a case of quitting. It was just ‘how am I going to do it?’ and ‘how am I going to get to the top?’
“It was really hot to start with, then as I got through the clouds it got misty and rainy. I had to prepare for two different days.
“It was a relief that I got to the top, but a lot of people thought I’d sort of finished – when I actually had the return journey as well.”
Tommy said he was following in the footsteps of ex-Grenadier Guard Michael Copeland, 39, who carried a fridge to the top of Snowdon in 2022.
He had been given the hefty Hotpoint tumble dryer for free by a local scrap yard, before adding his own straps and brackets to it so he could carry it safely.
The cash he has raised will go towards Dewsbury Celtic RLFC, which is hoping to pull in around £25,000 so they can modernize their aging clubhouse.
Tommy played for the club during his youth and only recently stopped competing – but now coaches their under-8s team around his day job.
And chiefs at the amateur team, which has produced dozens of professionals including England and Great Britain star Alex Walmsley, 34, were thrilled with his idea.
Tommy said: “I thought I’d put it across to the committee and club – and it gained so much traction I couldn’t back out.
“The only way I could train for it was by putting it on my back and carrying it.
“So that’s what I’ve been doing – just carrying it round the streets, getting it on in the nighttime after we’ve sorted the kids, doing as many kilometers as I can.
“I recently retired from playing rugby all my life and I’m a builder, so I’ve got quite a good general level of fitness and strength anyway.”
He added: “When I started playing rugby at eight, the clubhouse was quite dated then, and it hasn’t been touched since.
“It’s in desperate need of a renovation. It’s not a place where you want kids. It’s like an old-fashioned working man’s club from the 60s, 70s. It’s all wood paneling.
“So the idea is to renovate the clubhouse to make it someplace we personally think that these kids deserve to be.”
Dewsbury Celtic RLFC was founded by Irish immigrants, and Tommy said his grandfather had played for the club after emigrating from the Emerald Isle.
Tommy became a member after he spent 18 months in hospital recovering from cancer – and now coaches the kids of friends he had made when he first joined.
He said: “When I was five years old, climbing a tree in the back garden, I fell out and broke a rib.
“My mum took me to the hospital and they did some x-rays, and they then actually found some tumors just out of luck.
“They were on my kidney and diaphragm, so I’ve half my diaphragm removed, which is the muscle that moves your lungs. It’s affected my breathing capacity.
“When I came out of hospital, I didn’t have any friends, or anything like that so that’s why my mum took me to rugby.
“It’s a very big family game, you’re very easily accepted in. I’ve made friends in the first few weeks that I’m still friends with to this day.
“And now I’ve coached the Celtic’s under eights, and I’ve actually coached some of my mates’ kids who I met in the first few training sessions.”
