“On a far bigger scale than anything I’ve done before”: rugby legend Jonathan 'Fox' Davies ditches his scrum cap for hiking boots and treks to Everest Base Camp – and we try to keep up

Jonathan Davies sits on a rock with a snowy Himalayan peak in the background.

It’s 3:20am as I tiptoe down the creaky stairs of the Buddha Lodge teahouse in Gorak Shep and push the front door open to an icy blast of alpine air.

“Good morning,” says Jonathan Davies, who’s already waiting outside in the dark with two of our Himalayan guides, his headlamp strapped to his head in anticipation of our pre-dawn hike.