City executive scales 47th peak to break record

A former City executive who spent two years braving minefields and armed bandits returns to Britain today after breaking the world record for climbing the highest peak in each of Europe's 47 countries.

A former City executive who spent two years braving minefields and armed bandits returns to Britain today after breaking the world record for climbing the highest peak in each of Europe's 47 countries.

Rod Baber, 29, shaved nearly five years off the existing record, set by a Royal Navy diver last year, when he reached the summit of Turkey's 5,137-metre Mount Ararat on Monday.

The one-time financial consultant, who left his highly paid job two years ago to take up the challenge, had originally hoped to complete the task within five months. But his plans were thwarted after completing 44 peaks when war and politics prevented him from entering Kosovo last year and the Kurdish area of Turkey, where Mount Ararat is situated.

He left Britain on 11 July this year to complete the remaining three mountains in a gruelling 38-day marathon starting with Mount Daravica in Kosovo - despite warnings that its slopes were strewn with mines.

Two shepherds were recruited to guide Mr Baber and his team through the minefields, which had claimed five lives in the four previous weeks. Mr Baber said: "We were frequently reminded of the atrocities of the Kosovan crisis, particularly by Serbian snipers' nests and the empty mine boxes strewn around."

The team then moved on to Mount Shkara in Georgia, regarded as technically more demanding ascent than Everest, before obtaining special permission to climb Ararat.

Mr Baber, from west London, now plans to climb a further 199 summits to become the first person to conquer the highest peak in every country in the world.