On 21 May 2009 at 7.15am (local time) John Black summited the peak of the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest (8850m).

John Black, an accomplished South African mountaineer, along with climbing partners Robby Kojetin and Gilad Stern left for Kathmandu on 28 March 2009, to fulfill his lifelong dream of climbing Mount Everest with the assistance of his sponsors, Cape Union Mart.

Due to their different climbing pace Kojetin and Black were split into separate teams and Kojetin is expected to summit in the next day or two, while Gilad Stern decided to abort his summit attempt earlier this month when he was caught in an avalanche.

Black (29), from Cape Town is an experienced climber having now completed five of the world's seven summits, including Mount Aconcagua (South America), Mount Elbrus (Europe), Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mount Kosciuszko (Australia) and Mount Everest (Asia).

Gilad Stern (51) made the decision to put an end to his dream when an icefall claimed the life of one climber. "I decided I am not going to go up the icefall again. I have sat with this for a few days and am thrilled to have had such an amazing and utterly privileged experience."

Arriving in Kathmandu on 29 March, the team made their way to Lukla (2840m) and from Lukla to Phakding on 31 May. On 1 April they continued up the banks of the Dutch Kosi River, crossing it twice by small suspension bridges before reaching the village of Monjo where they entered the Khumbu National Park. They continued through the mountains and finally the Everest climb started on 10 April 2009.

Black, Kojetin and Stern were set to climb Everest in 2008 but unfortunately plans were put on hold when their permit for climbing the mountain was retracted at the last minute due to conflict between Tibet and China.

One of the sponsors of the 2009 Mount Everest challenge was Cape Union Mart and its technical outdoor brand, K-Way. Says Evan Torrance, Marketing Manager of Cape Union Mart: "We are extremely excited that John Black safely summited Mount Everest wearing K-Way merchandise. This is something many dream about but John's dedication, hard work and years of training have finally paid off. K-Way has made it all the way to the top of the highest and coldest mountain on the planet and all of us at Cape Union Mart could not be prouder of John and this amazing achievement."

For more information visit http://mounteverestsouthafrica.spaces.live.com or www.capeunionmart.co.za.