0:00:41 > 0:00:46Binevenagh Mountain towers above gentle farmland on the north coast.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50A great slab of ancient basalt, and a great place for a walk.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54It's also the favourite training ground for my guide,
0:00:54 > 0:00:58a Kilrea woman who is one of Ireland's best known adventurers.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04Hannah Shields made it to the top of Mount Everest in 2007.
0:01:04 > 0:01:10An epic achievement in itself - but she's also survived frostbite and polar bear attack,
0:01:10 > 0:01:14pushing herself beyond endurance to the North Pole.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17For so many years, I was an armchair adventurer.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19I read every single book about
0:01:19 > 0:01:22North Pole, South pole, Everest, the mountains.
0:01:22 > 0:01:25And to me that was always, superhuman people did that.
0:01:25 > 0:01:30And I sometimes have to keep pinching myself and go, "It's me. You're out there doing these things."
0:01:38 > 0:01:41We're walking a route Hannah usually runs.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47From the church car park off the Limavady, off to Castlerock Road.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50The forest track is a sharp climb up to the foot of the mountain.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54And on to the distinctive rocky pinnacles under the cliffs.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58Then it's back down, along the trail below the crag.
0:01:58 > 0:02:06Up through another forest, and on to the summit ridge and the amazing lookout beside Binevenagh lake.
0:02:11 > 0:02:12There we go.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16Hannah, I'm a rambler and you're a runner.
0:02:16 > 0:02:24I'll go up here a footstep at a time, taking it all in, but that's not your approach, sure it's not?
0:02:24 > 0:02:29Sometimes, whenever my training sessions... I call it "eyeballs out,"
0:02:29 > 0:02:32running up here as fast as I possibly can.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36But today is going to be an absolute pleasure, just to be out walking
0:02:36 > 0:02:38and seeing things that I don't normally see.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41I know. The eyeballs out thing, that's a great expression.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44Is that how you live life?
0:02:44 > 0:02:47No, not all the time, I have to admit, not all the time.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51But I think if you're going to do it,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55some of the training, you have to do it as hard and fast as you possibly can,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59- and that's what's required of some of the things I need to do.- Yeah. - Unfortunately.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01A lovely place to come and train.
0:03:01 > 0:03:02It's gorgeous.
0:03:02 > 0:03:04From deep inside the forest,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08there's no clue to the surprise that's waiting up ahead.
0:03:08 > 0:03:11That is just awesome.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13Don't let anybody ever say
0:03:13 > 0:03:16that we don't have spectacular and exotic scenery.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18Hannah, that is gorgeous.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21It's one of my favourite places.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24it really is, and I never, ever tire of it.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28I'm up here every single week and it's never the same, every single time.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30It's stunning, it's just stunning.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34And you've got the intimacy of the walk through the forest,
0:03:34 > 0:03:36then you reach something like this.
0:03:36 > 0:03:37This timeless landscape.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41The sun's hanging there, it looks like the moon through the cloud.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Actually, we're very lucky, because normally you don't see that!
0:03:45 > 0:03:47We've been blessed today.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50Normally there is a fantastic mist that hangs on that
0:03:50 > 0:03:53and I just find it a stunning place, absolutely stunning.
0:03:53 > 0:03:56And it sounds cliched, but it is.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02As the early morning mist fades, there's an awakening sense of that ephemeral beauty.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Binevenagh is a place apart.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10To actually be outside in the middle of all of this, it's an awe-inspiring place.
0:04:10 > 0:04:17It's my outside gym. It's where I come to do all my hard work before I go away on a lot of my expeditions.
0:04:17 > 0:04:24It's because I'm outside, getting the fresh air, it means so much to me.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35I am asthmatic, and it is something that I have to be conscious of.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38But it's not something that's going to define me,
0:04:38 > 0:04:40it's something that I'll work with.
0:04:40 > 0:04:46That singleminded determination took her to the summit of Everest in 2007,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49having almost done it four years earlier.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53I was back to finish what I hadn't done in 2003.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55That's purely what I was there for.
0:04:55 > 0:04:56100 vertical metres,
0:04:56 > 0:04:59it was a lot to do for 100 vertical metres.
0:04:59 > 0:05:03But I was just relieved, because, to be honest, my right contact lens
0:05:03 > 0:05:06had frozen to my eye for an hour and a half beforehand,
0:05:06 > 0:05:08so I was just, kind of, practicalities.
0:05:08 > 0:05:12"I'm here, I've done it, great. Get back down safely again."
0:05:19 > 0:05:21She is unstoppable.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23Hannah makes her living as a dentist,
0:05:23 > 0:05:29but she lives for life on the edge and that enthusiasm is infectious.
0:05:29 > 0:05:34So too is the rush you'll feel up here.
0:05:44 > 0:05:49There's never a dull moment high on Binevenagh, or higher still in the Arctic.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Every time I've been there, I've always had polar bear encounters.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59We now think it's due to my perfume. So I've been banned on the next couple of expeditions,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01where there's polar bears, no more perfume.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08And there's more adventure ahead.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12Along a sheep track running parallel with the base of the cliffs,
0:06:12 > 0:06:18a gentle walk before another climb through a pine forest, on to the cliff.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21Back into the Autumn sunshine.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25'Hannah is also an international cross-country runner.'
0:06:25 > 0:06:30'But thankfully, you don't have to be an athlete to appreciate a scenic stroll through the woods.'
0:06:30 > 0:06:32This is why I come up here.
0:06:32 > 0:06:33Oh, isn't that beautiful?
0:06:34 > 0:06:40Isn't that just the loveliest, gentlest countryside sweeping below us?
0:06:40 > 0:06:44It's away from everything, away from your worries,
0:06:44 > 0:06:46you can lose yourself in it.
0:06:46 > 0:06:50You've got that sense of euphoria for coming out and doing something physically,
0:06:50 > 0:06:52by yourself on your own two feet.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56And then, you have to admit, I get a wee endorphine kick after working hard.
0:06:56 > 0:06:58It's very satisfying.
0:06:58 > 0:07:03There's an enormous feel-good factor. That's why you really should try this, it's great!
0:07:03 > 0:07:05MOOING
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Definitely to be recommended. Even the cows agree.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13There is a road all the way up here.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18Travel by car and you may see the view, but miss the point.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21It's the journey that really matters in the end.
0:07:24 > 0:07:30It's been an idyllic day, spent in exceptional company and in unrivalled surroundings.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32We're way off the beaten track.
0:07:34 > 0:07:35I love whenever I come up here,
0:07:35 > 0:07:38that there's nobody around.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43And it is that splendid isolation, that you really do feel you're getting away from it all.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46But then at the same time, I think that I shouldn't be selfish
0:07:46 > 0:07:49and it should be opened up to other people to appreciate.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51I know that it's there and that it is accessible.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14If you've been inspired to put on the walking boots and see it for yourself,
0:08:14 > 0:08:15check out the website:
0:08:18 > 0:08:21You'll find route maps, safety advice
0:08:21 > 0:08:24and links to walking clubs in your area.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:08:32 > 0:08:35E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk