Newmarket senior arrives home from Everest climb

While Werner Berger was summiting Mount Everest last month, most people his age would have considered themselves lucky enough to still be able to make it around a golf course.

The 69-year-old resident of Newmarket, Ont., returned home Thursday after becoming the oldest North American to reach the top of the world. Berger is also the oldest North American to have reached the Seven Summits - the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.

And he started mountain climbing just 15 years ago.

"Age is simply relative,'' Berger said, still fighting a lingering cough from the climb. "I never consider myself 69. Most of the time I feel 29, which is a little bit dumb, but what the heck.''