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New Record Time for Seven Summits is 117 Days

Steve Plain is an Australian mountaineer who just climbed Mount Everest and set a new record for climbing the seven summits in only 117 days.

He was told by doctors he would be confined to a wheelchair after breaking his neck a few years ago.

Iswari Poudel of Himalayan Guides Nepal said he got a phone call from the base camp saying that Plain along with two guides reached the 8,850-metre peak about 7 a.m. and were descending this morning.

In 2014 he was swimming at the beach when he was dumped by a wave, head first into the sand. He was knocked unconscious, but his life was saved by a friend and two lifesavers.

Plain broke his C2, C3 and C7 vertebrae and had numerous other injuries. He was told by doctors he should be in a wheelchair.

Plain, 36, from Perth, climbed Mount Vinson in Antarctica on Jan. 16. He followed that with Mount Aconcagua in South America, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Carstensz Pyramid in Papua New Guinea, which covers Australia and Oceania, Mount Elbrus in Europe and Denali in North America.

Polish climber Janusz Kochanski had the previous record of fastest to climb the seven peaks, doing it in 126 days last year.

LIVE UPDATE: Everest Day 15, 29-Apr-2018 —————————————— Back in Everest Basecamp. Apologies for not posting any updates the past couple of days. On the 27th I walked with the #Project7in4 trekking group from Dingboche to Lobuche. Yesterday (28th) we trekked from Lobuche to Everest Basecamp. At EBC I said farewells the trekking group, they returned to Gorek Shep while I returned to my camp. While passing through Gorek Shep we arranged for my Dad and Juris (Uncle) to heli up from Namche and meet us there. A bit of a rock star entrance for them. They weren't acclimatised to the altitude at Gorek Shep so couldn't spend long on the ground but it was wonderful to see them briefly and all be together for a short period of time. It has been incredible to be able to spend a few days with the Project 7in4 trekking group. I've been truly humbled by all the support. In arranging the trek we weren't sure how timings would work with my climbing schedule to be able to meet but it couldn't have work out better. Thank you to everyone who joined the trek and for your help with fundraising for SpinalCure and Surf Life Saving WA. Legends! Enjoying the trek out and have a safe journey home. Today, with a spare day in EBC, I ducked down to Gorek Shep and up Kala Pattar. Always good to stretch the legs. I managed 34min 38 sec up Kala Pattar today. Better than my 39min when I first arrived at EBC a couple of weeks ago, shows my acclimatisation is improving, but still not as good as my best times last year. Maybe I just need some more time acclimatising or maybe it's just a sign of cumulative fatigue from +4 months on the road. Either way there's not much I can do about it now. For Jon and I it's now time to switch our focus back to the hill. Rope fixing is progressing well on Everest and weather is currently reasonably stable. Tomorrow we'll head back up to Camp 2 and see what's happening there.

A post shared by Steve Plain (@project7in4) on

A government official at the base camp, Gyanendra Shrestha, said Xia Boyu was among more than 40 climbers who reached the summit on Monday because of favorable weather conditions on the mountain.

He said several more are expected to attempt the peak this week.

Plain’s last post to social media said, “What a day. I’m actually lost for words. Three-and-a-half years ago I was lying in hospital with a broken neck and at that time set myself the goal climbing the seven summits in under four months. Today I completed that goal.”

Steve has made it to camp 4! It is not so long ago his only view was the ceiling when he broke his neck in December 2014, now his view is the "rooftop of the world". Being in the halo did slow him down but he managed to keep active (see pic), and it wasnt long before he had his eyes firmly set on climbing the 7 summits. Steve's final practise climb was to Lhotse last year. From the summit of Lhotse he could see the Everest summit (see pic) and on return announced #project7in4. We are unsure where rope fixing progressed to today and await Steve's update tonight to find out when they will attempt the summit. For updates follow him on his livetracker, facebook and here. #everest #7summits #halo #focus #mountainclimbing #climber #lhotse #nepal #goals #ceiling #rooftop #ropefixing #summitattempt #notlongtogonow #abcmyphoto #nepal8thwonder

A post shared by Steve Plain (@project7in4) on

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