A 12-year old Boulder, Colorado boy reached the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island this afternoon, capping off his 50 Peaks in 50 States journey.
As Marisa Yamane reports, Matt Moniz did it in honor of his best friend.
Matt Moniz' journey began on June 3rd -- when he reached the summit of Denali, Alaska's highest peak.
And over the next 43 days, Matt ventured across the US, climbing to the summit of the highest mountains in every state.
"Our most peaks in one day -- we did six peaks in one day," said Matt Moniz by phone from the Big Island.
And they got from state to state via horsepower, pedal power, and jet power.
This afternoon, Matt's journey ended at the top of Mauna Kea.
"I feel awesome for like completing the world record but more importantly helping Iain," said Moniz.
Iain is Matt's best friend.
"He was diagnosed with pulmonary arterial hypertension and it's a rare disease,
Matt went on the journey to raise awareness about the disease -- which has symptoms similar to the ones you'd get at high altitudes -- shortness of breath, a headache and nausea.
And so far, Matt's efforts have brought in $25,000 for Iain's medical care.
"The average temperature is -50 degrees up there so really cold. Surprisingly this peak in Hawaii is probably 30 degrees with wind chill so it wasn't that warm either," said Moniz.
Matt's dad Mike along his side the whole way, along with a team of volunteers, and his mom and twin sister along part of the way.
Last year Matt climbed 14 of Colorado's 14,000 foot mountains -- also in honor of Iain.
And next year, who knows. Sky's the limit.
"We're thinking of doing single climbs not one after another who know we may do another one of these," said Moniz.
Matt initially set out to accomplish this latest journey in 50 days, but finished ahead of schedule at 43 days, 3 hours, 51 minutes, thus beating the previous world record of 45 days.
"It makes me feel beyond can't explain it in words how happy I am, and how excited and stuff like that," said Moniz.
Showing that faith and determination can move mountains.
The Moniz family now plans to spend the next week vacationing here in Hawaii.
If you'd like to learn more about Matt, you can visit his website at www.climb7.com.
