An adventurous teenager is back on track for his mission to stand on top of the world after his dreams to reach the summit of Everest were shattered.

Alex Staniforth, of Kelsall, was left heartbroken when his record breaking trek was cancelled after a freak avalanche killed 13 sherpas, leaving him stuck staring up at the mountain from base camp in April this year.

But now the 19-year-old is proving he is stronger and more prepared than ever to face the highest mountain on earth, after completing a series of epic challenges which have pushed his body to the limit.

Over the past two months the teenager has scaled treacherous rock faces, cycled hundreds of miles and braved blistering blizzards after setting himself a series of ultra-endurance challenges in preparation for his second Everest attempt in Spring 2015.

Alex’s dream to become the youngest Briton to scale the 29,029ft to the summit Everest via the southeast ridge may now be out of reach, but the adventurer is determined to complete his mission – which he says he has been preparing for all his life.

Alex Staniforth on Mount Dom

And when he completes his mammoth challenge, the teenager, who has been praised by Bear Grylls and Sir Ranulph Fiennes, hopes to become a published author after writing a book about his turbulent journey to the summit, detailing the highs and lows of his challenges along the way.

Titled ‘One Mountain After Another’ the book is due to be published by Coventry House Publishing, and will focus on the teenager’s struggle to raise money to fund the trips and his fundraising challenges despite being diagnosed with epilepsy when he was nine-years-old.

Despite only starting in July the teenager has completed four of his Epic 7 challenges, which Alex describes as a series of stepping stones towards his ultimate goal.

And the teenager is hoping his challenges, which will see him scale over 21,000 metres and 1500 miles, will raise thousands of pounds for Himalayan Trust UK, in support of mountain people and sherpas who were affected by the devastating avalanche which stopped his Everest attempt earlier this year.

Earlier this month the teenager cycled 878 miles from Chester to the French Alps, pedalling up a 10,000ft ascent during the epic ride, before scaling the second highest peak in Switzerland.

Alex, who was waved off by the Lord Mayor of Chester Bob Rudd and Council Leader Mike Jones during an official send off ceremony on September 26, spent eight days cycling on his own to reach Chamonix - which he described as “the toughest experience of [his] life”.

But despite losing 9lbs during the challenge and sustaining a groin injury, there was no time to rest as Alex donned his snow gear and headed onto the Alps to complete his fourth challenge – hiking 4545m up Mount Dom in just six hours.

Alex, who is now heading back to Chester to start planning his fifth challenge, said: “The challenges have pushed my limits in different ways. I have learnt how hard I can push myself and hopefully been able to spread some inspiration for a good cause at the same time.

“I already feel far better prepared for Everest than I did in spring, and I am looking forward to turning the next obstacles into opportunities.”

But Alex says that funding for the trips is still proving problematic, as the teenager is self-funding the challenges, and is relying on sponsorship to make his Everest dream a reality.

“The biggest obstacle as ever remains to be the funding but I’m fully committed to making it a reality second time round,” said Alex.

To sponsor Alex during his Epic 7 challenges visit his JustGiving page.