A MAN wearing nothing but a thong and a pair of boots has climbed to the top of Snowdon to raise money for charity.

Jon Jolley’s cheeky dare for Cancer Research was captured on film by cameraman Leighton Cox and Jon said with a laugh: “The footage means people can see my bum in HD.”

Salesman Jon, 29, from Wrexham, a former pupil of The Groves High School in the town, said he undertook his charity caper after losing a wager on the World Cup.

“I had put on a bet that Brazil would win the tournament and also said if they didn’t I would walk up Snowdon in my thong,” explained Jon.

“After the Brazilians were knocked out I wanted to be true to my word and carry out what I had pledged.

“I also decided to turn a negative into a positive by doing the walk to raise money for Cancer Research. It is an excellent charity.”

Jon and Leighton drove to Snowdon on Tuesday. Jon said: “I was nervous at the start.

“But before we got going a woman who was celebrating her 50th birthday came over and said she would like to have her photograph taken with me.

“That really broke the ice and it was such a laugh.”

Not wanting to cause offence to anyone during his ascent Jon had a backpack with him which contained T-shirt and shorts that he could quickly put on if he met other walkers.

“But to be honest the response I got was very encouraging. People were welcoming and enthusiastic about it,” he said.

The duo started the walk at about 11.30am and reached the top at about 3pm.
“It was really hot along the way. When we got to the summit there were about 200 people around.

“I put my clothes on and we went to the cafe to wait for the numbers to thin out a bit, and then took a photo at the top in my thong.”

Jon wore his T-shirt and shorts for the descent.

However, when they reached the bottom the friends discovered one of their cameras had dropped out of a bag.

“We went back looking for it and found it, but that added another 40 minutes. We were parked about three miles away and the last bus had gone by then, so we had to walk the extra distance to the car,” said Jon.

“We were absolutely exhausted at the end of it all. But it was well worth it.

“There has been a tremendous response from the public and I would like to thank them all for their contributions.

“Initially I had hoped to raise about £150, at the moment it is more than £550 with money still coming in.

“There has been lots of interest on Facebook and Twitter.”

Jon, who keeps fit by training in mixed martial arts, is planning to put the video of the charity challenge on YouTube to help raise awareness and to boost contributions.

If anyone would like to make a donation they can go to Jon’s Just Giving page –www.justgiving.com/Jon-Jolley/ – where he has written: “I will attempt to walk up Snowdon in a thong for Cancer Research UK because I should use my stupidity for a good cause.”