Endurance athlete Mark Beaumont, has completed the first major challenge on his 15,000 mile trip through the American Cordillera - reaching the 20,320 foot summit of Mt McKinley (Denail) in Alaska.

Not an experienced climber, Mark was nevertheless keen to take up the challenge of cycling and climbing on his latest challenge to journey through the longest mountain range on the planet. Under the expert guidance of mountain guide Jim Kerr, Mark managed to reach the summit in just under 3 weeks.

Mt McKinley/Denali      Photo: Ian Parnell

Seasoned mountaineer Ian Parnell explains why Mt McKinley is one of the most challenging mountains in the world:

"While not as high as the giants of the Himalaya an ascent of Denali starts much lower with base camp at 7000ft which leaves a whopping 13,000ft of ascent.  It's technically a much more challenging climb than Everest, with little of the fixed ropes and none of the sherpas that go unmentioned on ascents of the world's highest mountain.  The arctic cold, the position at the centre of the Alaskan Range and the beauty of its routes all go to make Denali one of the World's great mountains"

By the end of his time on the mountain, Mark lost just over a stone in weight due to the extreme physical demands of climbing at altitude with all your kit for the entire three weeks.

Mark is now back on the road. After cycling through the Talkeetna Mountains mountains in some unseasonably bad Alaskan weather he finally made it to Canada on 1st July. It is expected to take Mark a month to travel through the Canadian wilderness. You can keep up with Mark by reading his blog on the BBC website.