“It Doesn’t Matter If You Make It to the Top, Just Have a Good Time”
My Walk and talk with 10-Year-Old Frankie MacMillan, adventurer, fundraiser and all round brilliant human.
It’s not everyday you find yourself in the company of a 10 year old who makes you question all the excuses you think up to not start something! Frankie’s energy is all encompassing and accompanied with so much charm, charisma and care, he’s the best kind of firecracker!
About the Walk
We walked at Wastwater in the West Lakes, Cumbria, one of England’s most dramatic and quietly commanding landscapes. Wastwater has been voted Britain’s favourite view, and once you’re there, it’s clear to see why. The lake is long and still, ringed by fells that rise steeply from the water’s edge. The screes tumble down one side. The sky does whatever it wants. It’s the sort of setting that gives you perspective, you feel small, but in the best possible way. We walked along the well trodden path, my trusted Guide, Frankie very much in control of our movements, what a joy! We laughed at some terrible jokes, talked in such a refreshing, unassuming manner about mountains, friendship, heart conditions, robots, and the thing on Frankie’s wall that says: just do what makes you happy.
From Three Years Old to the Highest Peak in Every European Country
Frankie McMillan is 10, when we met, he just had a birthday, and we all know how exciting it is to finally turn ten, those seemingly elusive double digits! Haha! He lives near Gosforth in West Cumbria, just 20 minutes from Scafell Pike, England’s highest mountain, which he has climbed three times. The first time, he was four years old.
He’s been climbing since he was three. His mum runs a small company called Hills and Skills, offering guided walks in the area, and the mountains have been part of Frankie’s world since before he could probably articulate what a mountain was. What’s remarkable isn’t just that he’s done it, it’s that he’s clearly done it with his whole heart.
He estimates he’s done approximately 1,000 mountains between the ages of three and ten.
Costa Rica, Turtles, and Melted Cheese
Soon before we met for our walk and talk, Frankie had been to Costa Rica, where he volunteered at a conservation project releasing baby turtles into the sea, encountered a tarantula on a mountainside, heard puma tracks identified by a guide, and climbed Cerro Chirripó (approximately 3,800 metres). He also went to Everest Base Camp. He turned 10 shortly after returning from Costa Rica.
His least favourite part of Costa Rica? The food. Specifically, the melted cheese.
“I just can’t handle melted cheese,”
He told me, with a quiet certainty that suggests the matter is entirely non-negotiable.
The mountains were good. The beans and rice were not so great. These are the real conditions of adventure. We hear you, Frankie!
The Lego League, the Competition, and the Code
Frankie’s not all about mountains, he’s incredibly dynamic and really speaks to not allowing age to be a barrier to what we expect of each other, it’s a pretty limiting mindset and can risk us walking away only knowing what we decide think is possible.
Frankie shared with me his prep for a big robotics competition the following Tuesday, a FIRST Lego League challenge, this year themed around archaeology (specifically, the problem of osmotic shock: what happens to artefacts when they come out of water and dry out too quickly). His team’s solution was to keep the artefacts preserved in seawater. He delivered this with the same matter-of-fact clarity he uses for everything, in a very easily consumable manner, to the point I wanted to go to school on Tuesday to be part of the competition!
Frankie is the team’s coder. He explained the block-based coding to me and how his team had previously come second at nationals, which sent them to an international competition. This year, internationals were in, possibly, Hawaii.
He is 10.
He is also working on his Lego League script lines for the five-minute presentation to judges. He recited his line to me, word-perfect, somewhere around the 11-minute mark:
“Excavation. Carefully excavates using tools such as trenches and airlifts to protect fragile material.”
He has also been known to get accidentally hit in the back of the head with a plastic golf club during PE. Happy to report, he is fine.
The Thing on His Wall
Toward the end of the walk, I asked Frankie what advice he’d give to someone his age. He said: “Just do what makes you happy. I’ve got prayer flags on my wall that say exactly that.”
And I asked him what makes him happy.
“Climbing mountains. When I’m at the top, it’s like, oh my goodness, I’ve actually just done that. Even if it’s not a big one, it still makes me feel astonished.”
What a brilliant word – Astonished.
That’s the word. That sense that even after over 1,000 mountains, the top still surprises him. I think that’s worth paying attention to.
What I’d Say to Someone Who’s Scared
I told Frankie I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to hills. I breathe heavily. I’m always at the back. So when I asked what he’d say to someone my age (happy to report, Frankie was too polite to go there), who was feeling nervous about getting on a mountain, he said this:
“It doesn’t always matter if you make it to the top. It doesn’t matter as long as you have a good time. And if the weather’s really bad, don’t go. It’s better than dying. Don’t put your life on the line.”
Practical, warm, totally sound.
If Frankie is looking for mentees, I’m ready!
Climbing for CRY: Cardiac Risk in the Young
When I asked Frankie about the charity he’s supporting, his answer was direct and moving. His best friend Zander nearly died from a previously undetected heart condition. Nobody saw it coming.
That was enough for Frankie. He’s now climbing the highest mountain in every European country, raising money for CRY, Cardiac Risk in the Young, which funds heart screenings for young people, so that conditions like Zander’s can be found before it’s too late.
“Not so they can get treatment the way before, just before it’s too late.”
That’s not a child parroting someone else’s cause. That’s a friend who understood exactly what was at stake.
You can donate to support Frankie’s challenge via his JustGiving page. Please share it.
Next Stop: Finland
Twenty-two days from when we recorded, Frankie was heading to Finland to climb Mount Halti (Finald’s highest peak). At the time of writing this blog, the trip has passed, and having seen the social media posts, Halti was conquered and much fun was had! He was most looking forward to playing in the snow, which I saw he did! He had also been told he would be riding a snowmobile to the top, and had already assumed he would be driving it. I don’t think he managed to drive it, but the videos of being driven look epic!
The research for Finland was apparently already done at the time of us walking and talking. Frankie shared that this was one of his favourite car journey activities, researching the next country. They’d also arranged a Tesla from the airport, which Frankie was super excited about!
Final Thoughts
I’ve been making this podcast for a while now. I’ve walked with therapists, athletes, authors, community builders and creative thinkers. I’ve had conversations that have shifted something in me.
And then I walked with Frankie.
There’s something about talking to a 10-year-old who is already doing, not just planning, not just dreaming, that reorders things a bit. He’s not waiting for the right time. He’s not wondering if he’s ready. He just goes. He climbs. He codes. He researches the next country. He supports his best friend. He says thank you to his mum.
He’s been astonished over 1,000 times already, and he’s only just started.
Finland is done. Then the rest of Europe. Then whatever comes after that.
Watch this space. And if you can, donate, share, and cheer him on.
Resources & Connect
Frankie’s story is one of quiet, unstoppable joy. Starting out on the fells at three years old, he has built a life of adventure spanning every terrain, rising to the summit of Scafell Pike before he was five, and treating every mountain like it was made for him. When his best friend Zander nearly lost his life to an undetected heart condition, Frankie felt it and he acted. Now the driving force behind his own European Peaks Challenge, Frankie is on a mission to climb the highest mountain in every European country, raising money for CRY, Cardiac Risk in the Young, so that no family ever has to face what Zander’s did.
Links:
- Linktree: https://linktr.ee/frankiemcmillan
- 🌐 Hills and Skills — hello@hillsandskills.com
- 💛 CRY — Cardiac Risk in the Young https://givestar.io/gs/10-countries-10-highest-peaks-one-10-year-old
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frankie_moves_the_mountains
Wastwater sits at the foot of Wasdale in the Western Lake District, cradled by some of the most dramatic fell scenery in England. It is England’s deepest lake and, more than once, voted the nation’s favourite view, where the Wastwater Screes tumble steeply into still, dark water and the sky feels closer than it should. Frankie and Sukanya walked the lakeshore path toward the old pump house and back.
