TWO climbers from Scotland who became the first to complete the notorious Mazeno Ridge in the Himalayas, one of the hardest climbs in the world, have described their joy at achieving their impossible dream.

Sandy Allan and Rick Allen crossed the ridge after two weeks of tough climbing that forced the rest of their team to turn back.

The ascent is the first time any climber has traversed the entire six-mile ridge to reach the summit of Nanga Parbat in Pakistan. Various teams, including groups from France, America and Germany, have tried in the past but failed.

Yesterday, both Mr Allan, 56, from Newtonmore, and Mr Allen, 58, from Aberdeen, were recovering from the climb and enjoying the acclaim from the mountaineering community.

Mr Allan, who has been left with some frostbite in his fingers and toes from the climb, said he has wanted to conquer the ridge for many years. He and Mr Allen attempted it in 1995 but a combination of factors, including the weather, meant they had to abandon the attempt.

"I suppose I have been preparing for this for 17 years," said Mr Allan yesterday.

"The ridge is one of the last great climbs of the Himalayas and nobody has managed to do it as one continuous push. A few people have managed to traverse the initial part but they've always run out of energy and food."

Mr Allan said both men had learned a lot from the first attempt at the ridge, which is made up of eight 7000m peaks.

"The first time we tried the Mazeno Ridge, we realised we didn't know how to get off the mountain and we needed to build up a lot of confidence and get to know the mountain a bit more."

This time, the two friends set out with South African Cathy O'Dowd and three sherpas, which meant they could carry more food, gas and equipment.

"It meant we could climb the ridge and still look after our bodies and not arrive at the end of the ridge with no energy left," said Mr Allan.

However, a few days into the climb, the whole team almost gave up. "We'd all decided we would go down, but during the night I had a really good sleep and when I woke up, I said to Rick 'I think I might stay up because I feel okay'.

"The three sherpas and Cathy decided they were exhausted and needed to get down but we felt okay and had just enough food left to make one more attempt."

They finally reached the summit a while later, although the whiteout conditions meant it took them more than four hours to find it. However, Mr Allan said conditions on the ascent had been good.

"It was fantastic," he said. "We were always thinking: 'Oh, what's coming next? Where are we camping tonight?' So all that excitement was running through my body and my blood.

"It's a beautiful place to be and I've been calling it my impossible dream for a long time, to try to climb that ridge. It was a wonderful experience." It will take about a week for the frostbite in Mr Allan's hands and feet to heel and he is on antibiotics to keep his blood thin.

As for adjusting to normal life, Mr Allan said it did seem a bit boring, but he had been delighted by other climbers' reactions.

"I think the mountaineering community is quite blown away that we've managed to do it," he said. "Everybody's been failing on it for a long time but we're the first people to get through."