A new 15-year-old aiming to reach seventh heaven ….

Young Matthew King reaches the highest point in Africa

A teenager has completed the first hurdle in his bid to become the youngest person to complete the Seven Summits Challenge. Chief reporter LINDA PIPER talks to Matthew King, who has just returned home after climbing Africa`s highest mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro.

ALTHOUGH Matthew is now settled back behind his desk at Beths Grammar School in Bexley Village, he could be forgiven if his head is still in the clouds.

After scaling 5,895m to reach the peak of Kilimanjaro, in the east African country of Tanzania, the 15-year-old is on his way to becoming the youngest person to complete the Seven Summits Challenge.

The gruelling challenge involve climbing six peaks on five different continents before tackling the highest one of all, Mount Everest.
Matthew`s bid got off to a good start when he successfully accomplished his first climb, Mount Kilimanjaro, after raising £2,500 to pay for the trip.
The African peak is meant to be one of the easiest of the seven summits but Matthew, who returned home just in time for the new term, says it was harder than he had expected.

He was in a team of 12 climbers organised by Jagged Globe, an adventure company mentoring his attempt.
They all developed stomach problems due to the change in diet, which left them washed out and affected their sleep.
Matthew King feels on top of the world during his trip

The climbers spent their first four days acclimatising and climbing a smaller mountain, Mount Meru.
Matthew said: "The higher we got, the more we were all affected by altitude sickness.
"On Mount Meru this took the form of quite a severe headache, giddiness and breathlessness.
"But on Kilimanjaro it also caused nausea and vomiting."

He added: "As the climb got progressively harder, I felt increasingly tired and weak."
Matthew says he realised how dangerous his undertaking was when he heard, just before his group began their ascent, two people with a different expedition company had died on the mountain from a combination of altitude sickness and hypothermia.

Two days into the Kilimanjaro climb, they began their final ascent.

He said: "On August 22, we broke camp at 11pm and were away by midnight, climbing through the night using head torches.

"It was pretty hard going but we saw the most amazing sunrise and reached the summit on August 23."

Matthew was the youngest in the group. The oldest were a couple who celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on the mountain.

They all plan to meet up again in November to climb in the Pennines.
Matthew, of Elm Grove, Erith, says all the problems "paled into insignificance against the sheer exhilaration of the whole thing".

The teenager is now buckling down for his GCSE exams.
He got top grades in the three he sat before his Africa trip, takes maths in November and the rest next year.
His next goal is to raise the £8,000 he needs for his second peak, the Carstensz Pyramid in Australasia, which he hopes to attempt next summer.

For the Africa trip he wrote to more than 50 companies. Just three replied and only the Marriott Hotel in Bexleyheath gave him any help.

In tandem with his own needs, Matthew is also raising cash for Greenwich and Bexley Cottage Hospice with each of his climbs, in memory of his grandfather.

For Kilimanjaro he raised £2,300 for the hospice.

Now, as well as studying and fundraising, he has to keep up his fitness and climbing skills.

He said: "I know it is going to be hard.
"It all comes down to being focused and well organised."
2:45pm Thursday 21st September 2006