A SOUTH Lakeland adventurer has returned after 10 months of cycling and climbing his way around continental Europe.

Joss Livesey, 26, left his Howgills home in March, aiming to reach continental Europe's highest peaks and raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK.

"I had this idea that I wanted to go on a big adventure, a big trip," he said. "So it came to me that I wanted to combine three things I loved doing, which is cycling, mountaineering and travelling."

Over the course of almost a year, Joss managed to summit 39 out of the 40 peaks, missing just Dufourspitze in Switzerland due to poor conditions.

"It was just a massive challenge," Joss said. "I probably did underestimate it a tiny bit. It was really tough and it took a lot longer than expected. About an extra two months.

"There were some places I was a bit scared of going. Russia was a bit intimidating. That was really the biggest challenge of the trip because getting into Russia is very difficult over land. So that was really the most rewarding, achieving Mount Elbrus."

As well as being physically exhausted, Joss had to tackle intense mental challenges. Not least after he saved a friend's life when she fell from the highest mountain in Romania.

Joss met Miranda Singleton when they were both on Mount Olympus in May and she then joined him in October to summit Moldoveanu.

"It was an easy hike really," Joss recalled. "It was nothing too extreme and the terrain was similar to what we'd find in the Lake District.

"We reached the summit fine and then the wind really started to pick up. This area is prone to extreme weather changes and it just kept increasing and it was pretty much at gale force as we were coming off the summit.

"One big gust seemed to catch her and knock her off the path. She lost her footing and she started sliding.

"She slid a long way on a steep slope and watching her go I thought she's not going to survive that, she's going to be dead."

Having previously worked for Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service, Joss fortunately had some experience dealing with emergencies.

He rang the mountain rescue team, found Miranda and then began the six hour journey down the mountain with her on his back.

She was taken to hospital and put in a coma for two days. Despite suffering two brain haemorrhages, a fractured vertebrae in her neck, broken bones and fractured bones in her face, she survived.

"She started to improve a lot and now she's doing really well so she's an extremely lucky girl," Joss said. "It wasn't really until she woke up from the coma that I woke up from a bit of a nightmare kind of feeling.

"After the incident in Romania I really struggled to get my head back in the game and I really didn't want to keep going. It was after I did my next mountain that I was back in the groove."

Despite what happened, Joss' trip was largely a positive one, made all the more enjoyable by the people that he met along the way.

"I just had a fantastic time with people," he said. "The trip was focused around mountains and having adventures but it was really the people that I met along the way that defined my experience. I had an overwhelming amount of kindness and hospitality shown to me from people from all over Europe and all different backgrounds."

Joss is now planning his next adventure which he said would involve the peak that he missed. He also plans to write a full account of his journey.