Company banner taken to Mt Everest

John Soebbing, global head of IT sourcing based in New York, reached the peak of the world’s highest mountain with eight other climbers at 0715 on 24 May amid difficult weather conditions. He had spent two months of preparation on the mountain and trained for more than six months.

It was truly physically challenging, he said, but the blue sky view from the top of Everest was like a window to the world as far as the eye could see.

Conquering Everest was the final achievement in Soebbing’s quest to scale the Seven Summits - a mountaineering challenge which involves climbing the highest peak on each of the seven continents.

His climb was held up by a party of mountaineers who were accompanying the Olympic Torch to the top of Everest. Among the party were three Reuters News journalists who ascended to base camp - Nick Mulvenney, Mark Chisholm and David Gray. ■