Bill Tyler III, grandson of former Bradford City councilman the
late Bill Tyler, is at the top of the world – literally.

“He called his father while he was standing at the top of Mount
Everest yesterday,” his uncle, Steve Simon of Bradford, explained
Monday. “He had to take off the oxygen mask to do it.”

Tyler, 39, reached the summit of the world’s tallest mountain at
7:40 a.m. Sunday – Tibet time – with other members of the 7 Summit
Club.

The club, Tyler’s wife Barbi explained from their Santa Clara,
Calif., home, has a unique goal – “climbing the tallest peaks on
the seven continents.”

“He’s trying to do the seven summits,” she explained. “Russia
was his first in 2001, Australia in 2002 and Alaska in 2003.”

His climb up Alaska’s Mount McKinley holds a special place in
their hearts.

“He proposed to me from the summit,” she said, “the top of this
continent. Pretty cool. Not many people can say that.”

He climbed to the summit of South America’s tallest mountain in
2005 and attempted a first try at Everest last year. “He got sick
and had to come home,” Barbi Tyler explained.

She uses the club’s Web site to keep people apprised of her
husband’s progress on this Everest expedition, posting updates as
he calls them in to her on a satellite phone.

“He made Summit,” she wrote on Sunday. “Bill just called me! He
has made the summit! It’s Sunday May 20th for him at 7:40 a.m.! He
sounded great! Says he’s real tired but has a lot of leg in
him.”

His group has safely returned from the summit to one of the
camps along the side of the mountain, and Barbi Tyler explained he
should be back at base camp today.

As he made his way up the mountain, she would use the Web site
to explain the rigors of the bad weather, low oxygen and the toll
the trip was taking on her husband – all the while thanking people
for their support and e-mails.

Some posts on the site were made by Bill Tyler himself early on
in the trip. He described a trip to the North Col, “a bridge
between the main mass of Everest, and the North summit of the
mountain, called Changste … (which) allows the climbers to set up a
camp to continue to climb.”

Camping at 23,100 feet above sea level has its own challenges,
including some difficulties sleeping. “Sleeping at 7,000 meters
really means that you try to find a comfortable spot and then relax
enough to let the mind drift,” Bill Tyler wrote. “There is no deep
sleeping. Maybe for some, but no one I know! Sherpas maybe,” he
said, referring to the local guides from Nepal who lead explorers
on the treks.

“If you move and forget that you are this high, you spent a few
minutes gasping to regain control,” he wrote on May 1. “I got
pretty good at moving slowly. Ever time I got out of my tent,
though, I would gasp away.”

Despite the hardships – or perhaps, because of them – he
persevered and became one of just a few thousand people to have
made it to the top of the world’s highest peak.

Barbi Tyler explained Monday that her husband has been away for
two months so far on this trip.

“He had some really vigorous training before he left,” she said.
“He was working out in the gym for two to three hours a day, doing
a lot of cardio and strength training.

“Our whole lives have been focused on this mountain for the last
four months with him getting ready to go and supporting him while
he is gone,” she said.

“I am not going to lie, it is very difficult to have the one
that you love gone for such a long time,” she added. “It is pretty
scary to know the dangers of a mountain. However, I trust his
judgment. He has had to turn around on other mountains because of
bad weather or just not enough time to get up and down safely.

“He has a good head on his shoulders,” she said.

The mountains already conquered in his quest to reach the
heights of the Earth are Mount McKinley, Elbrus in Russia,
Aconcagua in South America, Kosciuszko in Australia and now,
Everest in Tibet.

The two remaining are Kilimanjaro in Africa and Vinson in
Antarctica.

Bill Tyler had lived in Bradford for a few years, Simon
explained, but moved away as his father was in the military. His
grandmother, Peg Tyler, is a resident of Emery Towers. His
grandfather, Bill Tyler Sr., had served three terms on Bradford
City Council, ending in 1996.