A BRAVE schoolboy reached new heights as he went above and beyond in memory of his granddad to climb the UK's highest mountain.

Nine-year-old Lewis Cabrie said scaling the 1,345m peak brought him closer to his beloved late grandfather Peter Mooney, who sadly passed away in May after suffering from Alzheimer's.

Lewis is a P6 pupil at St John's Primary and lives in Lithgow Way in Port Glasgow.

He said: "When I reached the top of the mountain, I felt as if I was nearer my granddad."

His proud parents Ian and Janice say Lewis loves hill walking and is happiest when he's going trekking up mountains.

Ian, who accompanied Lewis on the climb, said: "He's always wanted to climb Ben Nevis.

"He climbed Ben Lomond a few months ago and after that he wanted to do something else.

"We also went to do the Cobbler but we didn't reach the summit because the weather was quite poor.

"After that Lewis had it in his head that he wanted to do Ben Nevis and kept asking."

On the day of their climb Lewis and his dad got up at 5am and had a hearty breakfast to set them up.

Ian said: "We were hoping to get a hotel up in Fort William but they were all busy so we just got up one morning and decided to drive up.

"It was an amazing experience and I'm so proud of Lewis for doing it."

Ian said nothing fazed Lewis during the mammoth hike.

He said: "Three quarters of the way up, the clouds were really low so you couldn't see the track in front of you.

"But there were a lot of people on the hill so we knew we would be okay.

"I asked Lewis if he wanted to go back down but he wanted to keep going.

"I think he wanted to do it for his granddad - that spurred him on."

Lewis's mum Janice said it was great when Lewis video-called her from the summit.

Janice said: "I'm so proud of Lewis.

"It was lovely to hear him say that he felt closer to his granddad when he reached the highest point."

Lewis's big sister Sophie, 12, who has just started at St Stephen's High School, said: "I think it's really good considering how old he is.

"The fact that he's climbed so many hills is amazing."

Busy Lewis is now setting his sights even higher.

He said: "I would love to climb Mount Everest."