Michael Kobold, a watchmaker from Robinson, and Sir Ranulph Fiennes have scaled Mount Everest, reaching the summit last night according to Mr. Kobold's assistant, Josh Vandergrift. Will Cross, an educator and explorer who suffers from type 1 diabetes who was a member of the expedition, "did not reach the summit but instead abandoned his bid to stand atop the world's highest mountain," reported Vandergrift early this morning.

It was early morning in Kathmandu when he placed a telephone call to his staff at Kobold Watch Company from the summit. He said, "This has been the hardest thing I've ever done, and without the SEALs' help I sure would not have made it to the top."

Mr. Kobold trained with the Navy SEALS for the arduous climb, and his team raised a flag depicting the Navy SEAL trident atop the summit in honor of wounded and fallen SEALs.

Kobold was the driving force behind the 2009 Everest Challenge Expedition in support of fallen and injured the SEALs; he trained with them for approximately two months on their base in Coronado, Calif., before heading to Nepal.

The expedition's other team members include Fiennes, whom the Guinness Book of World Records describes as the world's greatest living explorer; and Kenton Cool, the British mountain guide who has summitted Everest a record seven times.

For more on the expedition, read Mr. Kobold's Everest Diary at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09123/967454-37.stm.

This story includes corrects from a previous report.