A slightly spooky entry reaches us in what seems to be an exciting new competition - I was the highest solicitor in the world.

After we reported recently on Matthew Potter, a partner at Suffolk firm Ashton Graham, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania (see [2003] Gazette, 20 November, 12), we were contacted by Graeme Aston, a private client solicitor at W Davies & Son in Woking.

As well as being struck by the coincidence of names, Mr Aston has recently encountered a similar battle up a mountain, but in his case Mount Mera in Nepal.

'The struggle to the summit of Mera was not dissimilar to [Mr Potter's]: sheer exhaustion, freezing conditions and blinding sun.

However, I would point out that this mountain is higher (6,476 metres), slightly more technical...

oh, and that's Everest in the background.' Impressive though his achievement is, it would be an even better boast if he was at the top of Everest (8,850 metres), rather than in the vicinity (how's that for churlish?).

And with there being lots of mountains higher than Mera - there are 17 8,000-metre-plus mountains in the world, all in the Himalaya-Karakoram-Hindu Kush ranges - this competition still has some way to go.

[This article refers to images that appear in the printed edition (see [2003] Gazette, 4 December, 11)]