Rutland, MA, Teenager Summits Mount Everest – NBC Boston

The idea of ​​being on top of the world – literally – was born from a whim of a teenager from Massachusetts.

Ryan Mitchell, a 19-year-old from Rutland, explains why he climbed Mount Everest.

“I literally thought of the idea 'I Climbed Mount Everest' for a YouTube video title, studied it more, and from there, I don't know, fell in love with it “Mitchell said.

This idea – to document almost every step of his journey to Everest – came over a year ago. Since then, Mitchell has been training hard.

“Wachusett Mountain, up and down, for 12 hours sometimes, with a 35-pound pack, really hitting the legs,” Mitchell said.

He left Boston on April 19, making his way there slowly and steadily, taking care to capture video of the 42-day journey to the summit.

It hasn't been easy, but he reached the summit of Mount Everest last week.

“I just started smiling and crying. I realized about an hour from the summit that I was going to make it,” he said. “I actually cried most of the time on the way up – tears of joy – luckily I never cried tears of pain, the tears of joy came – because you realize you're going to make it. “

Mitchell estimates the expedition cost him $120,000, money he raised through his YouTube channel playing Minecraft.

“You train for all this time and you imagine it, I imagined it so much, almost every day, being on that peak and getting there, and then finally seeing it as a reality,” Mitchell said, beaming at the thought. . “I just started smiling to myself and crying.”

Mitchell returned to central Massachusetts on Wednesday and he's already thinking about his next adventure as he continues to edit hours and hours of video he shot during the expedition.

“It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Mitchell said with a smile.