Climbing our own Everest

Mount Te Aroha is over 900m high. Photo / File

Sir Edmund Hillary would have been 100 on July 20 this year.

To honour his accomplishments, a fundraiser is being run with the goal of having 100 people climb the Waikato's 952m-high Mount Te Aroha.

Organiser Kristie Baillie plans to climb the mountain multiple times a day this weekend to reach the equivalent height of Mt Everest (8848m) and encourages people to join her for one or more of the climbs.

Kristie has previously done a similar event in which she and fellow participants climbed and summited Mt Te Aroha four times in 48 hours. This challenge is more than double that.

The event takes place on Saturday and Sunday July 6 and 7. Kristie will be departing from Te Aroha domain at 5am, 9am, 1pm and 5pm each day.

"With eight times in total, this will not be a sprint but a good test of endurance."

The funds raised are for the Himalayan Trust which was started by Sir Edmund in 1960 and looks to reduce poverty in the Everest region of Nepal. The theme of 100 extends to the donation as well.

"Reach out to 10 people you know to each donate $10 for the cause," Kristie says. "Super simple. If 100 is too much, finding 10 people to each donate 100 cents each makes a difference. Every bit counts!"