Summit of Mt. Everest - June 5th, 2007

Kevin Cherilla
International Mountain Specialist
World-Adventurer, Teacher, Varsity Coach, Speaker

I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and moved to the desert of Phoenix,Arizona in 1993 where I began rock climbing with the Arizona Mountaineering Club. I have been mountaineering for almost two decades and my adventures have taken me to six continents and over 20 countries. Since 1995, I have had the privilege of traveling the world with world-class, blind adventurer Erik Weihenmayer: rock and ice climbing, running marathons, biking, and mountaineering. Our adventures over the years have been featured on the front cover of TIME, Outside, Climbing, and Weekly Reader magazines. We have also been featured on the Oprah Show, Jay Leno, David Letterman, and many world news programs. I served as base camp manager for the NFB 2001 Everest Expedition during which Weihenmayer became the first blind person to summit Mt. Everest and our team broke five world records! Our Mt. Everest documentary, “FartherThan the Eye Can See”, has won 20 international film festival awards, (www.seracfilms.com) along with several Emmy’s.

On June 5, 2007 I finally fulfilled one of my life long dreams of summiting Mt. Everest from the treacherous North Side, in Tibet.  At 7:30 am, I stood alone with my sherpa, Ngima Chhiri, on top of Mt. Everest.  It was a cold, windy morning (minus 36 degrees!) but the views were spectacular.  After a few pictures, a brief video, and a big hug we were off the summit in 10 minutes.  It's hard to explain exactly what it was like standing on top of the world but it is something I can be proud of the rest of my life! 

Every year since 2004, I have lead successful expeditions to the summit Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa using three different routes.  My clients have ranged in age from13-79 and I am extremely proud that most of my clients are my own middle and high school students, and their families.  In August of 2006 and2008, I had the honor of leading expeditions on Mt. Kilimanjaro that includedDarol Kubacz. Darol is a paraplegic athlete who made it to the highest point in history on Kilimanjaro completely unassisted using only his three wheeled,arm-powered mountain bike.

In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my wife Jennifer and two children Adam and Lindsey. I earned my bachelors degree in exercise physiology from John Carroll University (Cleveland, Ohio) in 1991 and have been an elementary, junior high, and high school, physical education teacher and varsity coach ever since.