A 69-year old man has become the oldest North American to reach all seven of the world's highest summits.
Werner Berger from Newmarket, Ontario climbed the 29,035-foot summit of Nepals' Mt. Everest on Tuesday. Berger, who spends most of his time in Yardley, Pa., was emotionally overwhelmed by his achievement.
"There really aren't any words to describe it," Berger told CTV's Canada AM. "The most spectacular part was standing on the top summit and looking across the traverse... and then seeing the summit approximately an hour away and knowing...that I was going to stand on top of the world. It was an unbelievable experience."
Berger said the first part of his climb when he was moving between the first base camps on the mountain was the most difficult stage of the climb.
"I just had the hardest time that I physically ever experienced. And I gave myself about a 25 per cent chance of reaching the summit," Berger said.
While 70-year-old Yuichiro Miura of Japan is the oldest man to scale Everest, Berger is the oldest man to climb the highest peaks on seven continents.
Mt. McKinley and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa are among the other mountains Berger has scaled.
Berger prepared for the climb through a strict training regimen and by sleeping in a hypobaric tent. He began climbing in 1992 when he was on a backpack trip to the Everest Base Camp.
Berger's successful Everest climb was documented by a high-altitude cinematographer who accompanied him on his journey.
