This kindergarten teacher climbed Mt. Everest this summer without ever leaving central Pa.

Pete LoBianco celebrated his 42nd birthday in a special way this year.

The Northeastern High School cross country coach attained heights reached by few others. With the help of his brother, Stephen, LoBianco tackled a single-day challenge called "Everesting."

Pete LoBianco Jr. decided to partner with a local charity called New Life for Girls and did an Everesting attempt for his birthday.

"Everesting" is a physical challenge in which a person completes a total vertical ascent equivalent to climbing Mt. Everest, which is 29,029 feet high. LoBianco completed the climb on his bike.

The challenge is issued and recorded by a group called Hells 500. To earn your place in their hall of fame, you must pick a hill anywhere in the world and complete continuous repeats of the activity until you reach the height of the world's highest peak.

LoBianco is also a kindergarten teacher at Mount Wolf Elementary and has competed in marathons, triathlons, and even Iron Man Triathlons.

But this, he said, was entirely different.

"Going into this I didn't know what to expect," LoBianco said. "I knew that once I started there was no backing down."

Days before his "Everesting" challenge, LoBianco teamed up with a local charity for the challenge.

Raising money for New Life for Girls

His brother recommended that he choose New Life for Girls since they were located right on Lewisberry Road where he was doing the challenge.

"I was able to get in contact with Kathy Kelly who's in charge of fundraising and I told her what I wanted to do and she was all for it," he said. "She told me that she would set up a Facebook event and I got their PayPal information so I could post it on my social media so people could donate."

New Life for Girls is a faith-based program that works with women struggling with drug and alcohol addiction as well as other serious life-controlling issues.

"When Pete reached out and told me that he did some research about us and valued what we were doing in the community, that warmed my heart," Kelly said. "Then he tells me he wants to put together a fundraiser for us and I was filled with joy."

Once word got out about the fundraiser, the donations started coming in.

"For him to think about somebody else on his birthday and wanting to help an organization like ours was really sweet of him," Kelly said.

Completing the "Everesting" challenge

Pete LoBianco Jr. decided to partner with a local charity called New Life for Girls and did an Everesting attempt for his birthday.

According to Hells 500, fewer than 9,000 people worldwide have completed an "Everesting" attempt and LoBianco was on the quest to add his name to that list.

Climbers must record their attempt on Strava, an app used to track running and cycling exercises. Climbers also have to go back down the same hill they rode up and not sleep during the attempt.

He started his ride at 2:15 a.m. on June 27 and finished just before 7 p.m.

"I was feeling good for the first 75 miles and then I started to struggle a little bit," LoBianco said. "I was struggling with my nutrition and sodium and I was having a hard time keeping some food down."

With his body aching all over, he took a 30 minute break to regain his energy and got back on his bike.

LoBianco found himself facing adversity yet again after his break.

"I started to struggle a lot with overheating when the sun was at its peak," he said. "So I started riding with ice packs down my jersey to stay cool."

At any point, LoBianco could have stopped and thrown in the towel. But he pushed himself to the limit and it paid off at the end.

"There was a lot going through my head during this attempt and there were times where I didn't know how I was going to make it," he said. "But I wasn't going to give up and as I got closer to finishing it was like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel."

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Supporters joined LoBianco throughout the day to cheer him on.

"Their support definitely motivated me to finish the challenge because there were some moments where I did not think that I was going to make it and when I heard their voices I had to keep pushing," he said.

People from New Life For Girls joined the support squad.

"With us being located on the road that he did the challenge on, we wanted to make sure that we showed our support and let him know how much we appreciate what he did," Kelly said.

His brother and some friends even took turns riding with him.

LoBianco rode more than 182 miles that day.

"I was humbled that people came out to support and wanted to be a part of what I was doing," he said. "Overall I was happy that I was able to help spread awareness about an organization that is doing a lot for the community and maybe others will be inspired to do things similar to what I did."