Hillwalkers stunned after oil worker climbs Ben Nevis in Lord of the Rings armour

Scottish Sun

5 hours ago

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A SCOTTISH oil worker stunned his gym pals when he scaled Ben Nevis in full Lord of the Rings armour.
Middle Earth megafan Jamie O'Connell, 35, was meeting with his group from Tough Cookie Fitness to climb to the UK's highest point in May.
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Lord of the Rings megafan Jamie O'Connell climbed Ben Nevis in full Gondor armour
Credit: Instagram
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He recreated an iconic scene from the movies at the summit
Credit: Instagram
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He has been a fan since the first film was released in 2001
Credit: Instagram
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His fellow hikers couldn't believe what they were seeing
Credit: Instagram
While most of his pals opted for the traditional hiking gear of waterproofs and boots he decided to break out his unique look.
He made the full armour from the fictional nation of Gondor, which features in the fantasy series.
The Fort William offshore worker shared pics on social media of him scaling the hill in the Gondorian getup, and even posing with signs pointing to the summit.
He told The Scottish Sun: 'I don't know why I did it just thought, yeah this is something I wanted to do for a laugh.
'The guys in the gym are used to me now, I'm always making Instagram videos when I'm doing a workout, I've even come in dressed an an orc once. Stomping around like an orc is a good way to get the cardio going."
Jamie's metallic ensemble featured chain mail. long metal plates covering his torso, shoulders and the side of his legs, iron gauntlets on his wrists and even a HELMET.
He even recreated a scene from the films by lighting a red flare on the summit and bellowing: "The beacons are lit, Gondor calls for aid!"
Despite the difficulties of scaling the mountain dressed for a quest, Jamie reckons it was worth it just to see people's reactions.
He added: "I'm not going to lie, I didn't enjoy it at the time, but now I can laugh at it.
"There were points where I was wanting to turn back, but I was almost halfway there. so I went, ah nah, we'll just see it through.
"It definitely wasn't an enjoyable experience but the reactions I got from people made it all worth it."
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He added: "It was a really busy day, there must have been around 500 people on the mountain that day.
"Almost everyone who walked past stopped to say something about it or make a comment or have a bit of a laugh.
"I've also had people message me on social media to say they met me on the mountain and they were glad they weren't actually hallucinating!"
Jamie has been a Lord of the Rings fan since the films were first released nearly 25 years ago, and has created his own armour sets from the wildly popular films.
He spent around £500 creating the Gondor armour, which is one of six sets he has made over the years, and wears them to Comic-Con conventions when he meets the actors who wore them in the movies.
He said: "It was a custom-made job, because I go to Comic-Cons and stuff like that.
"Depending on which guests from the Lord of the Rings are there, I'll kind of try and match which costume I'd wear to go and meet them.
"If I went to meet Bernard Hill or something like that, I'd wear a Theoden armour but if I went to meet Billy Boyd, another Scottish actor, I'd wear the Gondor armour."
Jamie added: "A famous line from the film which has since become a meme is 'one does not simply walk into Mordor'.
"But I suppose in my case, one does not simply climb Ben Nevis, I'll do it in Gondor armour."