At the age of 14, Jake Meyer set himself the challenge of becoming the youngest person to climb the 7 Summits; the highest mountain on each continent. On the 4th June 2005 at the age of 21, he stood on the summit of Mt Everest, thus becoming the youngest Briton to climb Everest, as well as the youngest man in the world to complete the 7 Summits. For him it was a dream come true; five years of hard work from his first summit to his last, yet he had completed his life's ambition at such a young age.
Jake began climbing at 13. Aged 15, he watched the dawn of the new millennium with his father, from the crater rim of his first summit, Kilimanjaro. At 18, he climbed Mount Elbrus in Southern Russia, Europe's highest peak. In 2002, he was awarded with a ‘’Winston Churchill Memorial Trust’’ travelling fellowship to climb Denali, Aconcagua and Kosciusko, the highest peaks in North and South America and Australia respectively.
"Unfortunately, getting to the top is only half the story - you have to get back down afterwards."
Jake Meyer
Everest
Ascended from the Tibetan side, via the North Col-North East Ridge route. The climb started on April 2, 2005, reaching the summit on June 4, 2005 around 0050hrs. He was accompanied by: Diahanne (Di) Gilbert - leader, Mingma Nuru Sherpa and Anil Bhattarai.
Jake’s climb was in aid of the Children’s Wish Foundation.
Jake holds several records:
• Youngest ascent of Mount Vinson (highest mountain in the Antarctic)
• Youngest solo ascent of Mount Aconcagua (highest mountain outside the Himalayas)
• Fastest British ascent of McKinley/Denali in 2003 (highest mountain in North America)
The Summits
• Aged 15 – Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (Africa)
• Aged 18 – Mount Elbrus, Russia(Europe)
• Aged 18 – Mount Aconcagua, Argentina (South America)
• Aged 19 – Mount Denali, Alaska (North America)
• Aged 19 – Mount Kosciusko, Australia
• Aged 19 – Mount Vinson, Antarctica
• Aged 21 - Mount Everest, Nepal (Asia)