On 3 October 2026, we stood on the summit of Ben Nevis.

That’s 1,345 metres, the highest point in the UK, and about five hours of climbing. Ben Cordery and I made the ascent wearing NORA, the lumbar support exoskeleton we’ve been designing and building at Viking Exos. Sam Patankar joined us on the climb.

It wasn’t a gimmick. It was a field test, on a real mountain, in real Scottish weather.

And it worked.

We came back down with something more valuable than a summit photo: real-world data. We’ve already used what we learned on the mountain to make changes to the exoskeleton. We needed out leg support to be modular.. done, we needed a closer fit to the body... done. That’s exactly why we do this. You can’t learn this in a lab.

So we’re not stopping.

Ben Nevis was phase one. We’re now completing the National Three Peaks, on three separate dates, so every climb gives us clean, rested, reliable data:

✅ Ben Nevis, Scotland (1,345m): DONE, 3 October 2026

⏳ Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), Wales (1,085m): 24 October 2026

⏳ Scafell Pike, England (978m): [TBC]

Each mountain brings different terrain, different conditions and different demands on the body. Each one makes the exoskeleton better.

Why Lochaber Mountain Rescue Team?

Mountain rescue volunteers head out in the worst conditions, at any hour, to bring people home safely. They carry heavy kit over brutal ground, which is exactly the kind of physical strain wearable robotics is meant to reduce. Supporting them while we test technology designed to protect people’s bodies just made sense.

If you’ve already donated: thank you. You got us up Ben Nevis. Please follow along as we tick off the next two.

If you’re new here: every pound goes straight to Lochaber MRT, and every share helps us reach more people. We’ll post updates after each climb, including what we learned and what we changed.

Two peaks to go. Come with us.

Matt

Founder & CEO, Viking Exos