THE youngest British woman to climb Mount Everest has revealed how a media storm in the wake of her epic achievement has taken its toll.

Leanna Shuttleworth, 19, visited Marlow on Sunday to aid Londridge outdoor activities centre.

She spoke to the MFP about finding herself at the centre of an ethics debate after revealing she and her climbing partner passed dead bodies on their way up the mountain. The storm arose after the Penn resident after her incredible feat in May 2012.

She said: "The ethics is talked about a lot by people who don’t have the full facts, that was nationwide and people were talking complete fiction.

"That, on top of everything you’ve been through and had to witness and can’t have helped even though you really wanted to it and it was out of your power, to cope with that and the backlash, it’s taken a long time to get over. It was terrible, but everything is better and more positive now.

"I love trying to inspire, especially younger women, as climbing is so male dominated. I think its brilliant the amount of young women who can go up and accomplish their dreams compared to a long time ago."

Leanna Shuttleworth helped 30 climbers to scale the equivalent height of the famous peak in Marlow.

Leanna Shuttleworth, 19, joined intrepid fundraisers at Londridge in Quarry Wood Road to aid the charity run centre.

On Sunday Thirty-three climbers from the Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club and Girl Guide groups climbed the 15ft wall at Londridge 233 times on Sunday - the accumulative distance from Everest Basecamp to the summit.

The climbing event at Longridge marked the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Mt Everest by Tenzing Norgay and the late Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953.

Miss Shuttleworth said: "It means a lot to climbers, it’s incredible what was achieved by Norgay and Hillary.

"I never thought I would climb Everest. When I saw it I thought, ‘that’s absolutely huge, it looks beautiful, it must be incredible to do but I’ll never stand at the summit’ - but I did it."

Miss Shuttleworth, who put a shift in on the wall, said: "We do a bit of rock climbing but if we’re training for Everest we don’t do a great deal of it, so it was great fun.

"It’s a fantastic achievement and a very impressive effort by the rotary club."

Lisa Hunter, event organiser from the rotary club, paid tribute to the fundraisers who braved the heights and the cold weather.

She said: "It was in a moment of madness we decided to mark the 60th anniversary by climbing the equivalent of base camp to the summit in one day.

"All money will be coming back to Longridge, particularly after the flooding, but also to help them make the site more accessible, it’s something different and in aid of a good cause.

"We’ve got 33 climber doing shifts, we have brownies and guides later, it’s great and we’re pleased Leanna is here to support us - fantastic to have here her, we can also say we’ve reached the summit of Everest."