Will Cross is bagging the highest peaks on the earth's 7 continents. Here he is at the summit of Antarctica's Mt. Vinson in December. See Will's Mt. Vinson slideshow >

UPDATE: April 18, 2004 - Will Cross and his team have started their Mt. Everest climb. They have set up camp at 20,000 feet. Now that's camping in the mountains!

Will Cross, the first person with diabetes to trek to the North and South Poles, is now taking on an even more incredible challenge—the NovoLog Peaks and Poles Challenge, to be exact.  Cross, 36, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 10, plans to climb the highest mountains on each of the earth's 7 continents by the fall of 2005.

So far, so good … he's already reached the summits of Argentina's Mount Aconcagua (22,840 feet), Alaska's Denali [McKinley] (20,320 feet), Antarctica's Mount Vinson (16,067 feet), and Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro (19,339 feet). The rest of Cross's adventure will go something like this: climb the world's highest peak, Mount Everest (29,035 feet), in Nepal this April-May; followed by Russia's Mount Elbrus (18,481 feet) and then Indonesia's Carstenz Pyramid (16,023 feet). If he succeeds, he will become the first American and first person with diabetes ever to complete such a challenge.

By now you may be thinking, "Is this guy crazy, or what?"

A little, yes.  But, he's also doing it for a very good reason—to raise money to find a cure for diabetes through research.  And, he wants to inspire other people with diabetes.  "I want to prove that there are no diabetics, only people who happen to have diabetes," he says.  "Those of us with diabetes can manage our disease successfully, and accomplish anything."

For more information and updates on Cross's progress, you can visit his Web site at: www.peaksandpoles.com.

This story was posted on April 14, 2004

More stories: * Will's excellent Antarctic adventure

* More athletes with diabetes

* Tips for planning your own "expedition"