Climbers 'on top of the world'

The members of the K2 Climbing Club have made it to the top of Mount Everest.

They have climbed the equivalent height of the world's highest peak without leaving the Arena sports centre.

The 11 mountaineers completed 983.4 ascents of the centre's nine metres high climbing wall. It took them 36 hours, spread over 24 of their weekly Wednesday evening sessions, to achieve the feat.

The climber whose agility and skill completed the achievement was Georgia McCullough.

The 16-year-old from Yapton said: 'It was good to be the one who reached the top of Mount Everest but everyone else climbed it as well. It wasn't just me.

'I've been coming to the club for about two years. It's good fun, it's really exciting and it gets me out of the house.'

A Worthing College student, she added: 'All my friends want to join in when I tell them what I do.'

The eight others who conquered Everest and continue to belong to the club, were: Alice May, Sophie Vass, Kate Freer, Michael Jupp, Daniel Southgate, Vicki Trust, Isaac McCullough and Karolina Kolovara. They are aged between nine and 17 years. They have been given polo shirts which acclaim their Mount Everest feat.

Climbing supervisor Ben Lucas, the centre's operations manager, said the club was formed to take on the world's second highest peak of K2.

The members' keenness saw landmarks such as Big Ben, the Spinnaker Tower, Ben Nevis and Mont Blanc quickly reached.

K2 was soon tackled to leave Everest as the remaining goal.

Ben commented: 'We decided that we might as well go on to Everest as there's only 100m difference between the peaks.

'When the climbers were nearing the top, I didn't tell anyone exactly how far there was to go.

'The excitement was intense in the last ten minutes. They were encouraging each other to reach the top.'

The climbing is carried out by the top roping method where ropes are placed through eyelets at the top of the wall.

'There's a real adrenaline rush. That's why people climb.

'It's not your normal football, basketball or badminton. Your heart is really racing,' added Ben.