A York property developer has successfully summitted the highest mountain in Antarctica, Mt Vinson, as part of his attempt to conquer the highest peak on each of the seven continents. 

Steve Davis, CEO and Founder of Grantside now only has two more mountains to conquer in his quest to climb the highest mountains on each continent around the globe. 

Last year he successfully climbed Mount Everest, which followed summitting the highest peaks above sea level in Europe, Africa and South America previously. 

Next on the list is the 6,190m (20,310ft) Denali (also known as Mt McKinley) in North America which he is aiming to climb in May 2023. 

That will leave just the Carstensz Pyramid, in New Guinea, Oceania to summit to achieve his ambition.  This mountain is 4884m2 (16,024ft) and is the highest peak of an island on Earth. New Guinea is the world’s second largest island and is 83 miles off the northern tip of Australia.

The month-long expedition to summit Mt Vinson, which is 4,892m (16,050ft) high, also included a 112km last degree sled-trek to the South Pole to reach the bottom of the planet on December 28.

As well as personal achievement, Steve is attempting this epic feat to raise the issue of climate change and how it is impacting the most fragile environments on earth and to see first-hand the effect of this.  

This, he says, fits in with the Grantside philosophy since the relaunch of the company in 2021 to focus on sustainability, integrity, and wellbeing in all its developments and investments looking at the effects of carbon emissions on the environment.

Grantside aims to deliver only carbon neutral developments by 2030 as part of its aspirations for the social and natural environment.  

Steve, who with no previous experience only started climbing in late 2018, underwent specialised training to get ready for the challenge including weighted backpack training, practicing pulling a sled and hours in the gym to prepare him for the -40C temperatures and extreme environment

Steve Davis, CEO of Grantside said: “It was a great experience and I’m very grateful to my fantastic team.  The conditions were challenging and extreme with temperatures dipping to below -40 degrees and high winds, but the experience of the journey, the polar landscape and extraordinary people was epic.  It was a privilege to be able to stand on the top of the bottom of the world and spend a few moments just in awe of the view from there taking in this planet we live on.”

Grantside currently has development projects in York, Sheffield and Harrogate including building student flats on the site of the former Mecco Bingo Hall in Fishergate, plus holiday flats above the former New Look in Parliament Street.