Ed Farrelly on Baruntse summit ridge in Nepal

A climber whose bid to become the youngest Briton to climb Everest was thwarted when he suffered frostbite is setting off on a new challenge – a 10,000 mile rally in an eight-year-old Citroën Saxo.

Ed Farrelly has put off his Everest bid until next year after a climbing accident on Aconcagua in Argentina that left one of his party dead and the 19-year-old hospitalised.

He and fellow 19-year-old Alex Brunton-Reed have set off on a charity fundraiser as part of the Mongol Rally, with stops en route to do a spot of climbing in the Czech Republic and anywhere else that presents an opportunity.

The rally teams left Goodwood in West Sussex at the weekend and will travel through 15 countries, including Kyrgyzstan where Farrelly climbed the 6,219m (20,404ft) Peak Chapayev in July 2010. The route ends in Mongolia’s capital Ulan Bator.

The Surrey climber, whose great great uncle was ambassador in Nepal in 1953 and gave the pennant from his car to the expedition team to be held aloft by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, is accustomed to mountaineering endeavours but said this will be a more sedentary expedition.

Ed, left, and Alex prepare for the rally

He said: “It was Robert Thomas Allen who once said his most treasured memories of travel were recollections of sitting. I plan to embrace this idea whole heartedly and ’sit’ my way all the way to Mongolia.”

The pair hope to raise cash for the Christina Noble Children’s Foundation, which helps to serve underprivileged children in Mongolia and Vietnam.

Both men are due to start university courses in autumn: Mr Farrelly at York and Mr Brunton-Reed at Exeter. They are logging their progress on their Banterbus blog.