Doctor scales seven summits

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - A Lafayette doctor has reached a goal few others have attained. Dr. Gregory Konrath, a surgeon at the Lafayette Orthopedic Clinic, has traveled the globe to climb the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents. Only about 200 others have achieved this feat.

"Just being out in beautiful surroundings is phenomenal. When you climb a mountain, you're going to get views you would never get anywhere else. You can't drive to these kind of views," said Konrath.

The beautiful scenery doesn't make mountain climbing easy, however.

"You test yourself mentally and physically. Mentally much more than physically. Guides joke, they say its 70 percent mental, 40 percent physical. Obviously, it doesn't add to 100, that's the joke," said Konrath.

His first of the seven summits was Mount McKinley in 2001. In May, he climbed Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. On December 28, 2008, he reached his goal by reaching the top of Mount Kosciuszko, the tallest mountain in Australia.

Konrath said he purposely saved the easiest of the seven summits for last.  He says this climb was special, he says, because of who came along.

"Sean, my son who is 10, and I did it together and it made it great. Because that was the final one and we were together," he said.

The duo scaled the 7200 foot mountain in about four hours, a lengthy expedition for Sean.

"You have no one else to talk to other than your dad, and it gets kind of boring eventually, because you have no one else to talk to," admitted Sean.

In spite of the difficulties, however, Sean enjoyed the trip.

"It was really cold and wet, because half of the time we were in a cloud. I liked the most when we were just walking around, looking around at stuff, that was pretty fun," explained Sean.

Sean said he hopes to follow his dad's footsteps by climbing the rest of the seven summits.  His dad said he has mixed feelings about that idea, but will support his son in reaching his goals.