The new world record holder for the fastest ascent of the seven highest mountains on the seven continents was given a hero's welcome when he arrived in Dublin airport yesterday morning.
Ian McKeever, who sliced a full month off the previous seven summits record, was greeted by television cameras and cheering crowds before being whisked off to a reception at the Mansion House hosted by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Paddy Burke.
The 37-year-old from Co Wicklow, who had never climbed at altitude before embarking on the Ulster Bank Seven Summits Challenge last January, trimmed another day off the record in just a couple of minutes yesterday when he declared he had reached the final mountain peak, McKinley, at 11.10pm Alaskan time on June 29th.
That was 8.10am Irish time a day later, June 30th, but it was the Alaskan time that counted, meaning he had set a new world record of 155 days, not 156 as originally recorded.
"It feels fantastic to be on level ground and to be able to walk without feeling I'm going to fall over," he said yesterday.
"But the important thing for me is that this is only one third of the equation. We've summitted the mountains, but we still have to raise an awful lot of money for Sophia Housing and the Irish Osteoporosis Society."
He recalled some of the highs and lows of the past six months, which included falling over a dead body during his snow-blind descent from Everest and how he and his team were within three days of the whole challenge being wiped out.
McKeever flies to Australia on Tuesday to climb Mount Kosciuszko, the alternate seventh summit, but he knows exactly what he wants to do when he finally gets home.
"I'm just looking forward to doing the normal things, I want to go to the movies, I want to eat burgers, I want to spend time with the people I love and care about."
But for his father, Niall McKeever, there was only one thing to say: "I'm just glad it's all over."