Diabetic climber becomes first to reach mountain peak

A Viennese resident has become the first type 1 diabetic to conquer the peak of Mount McKinley (Denali) in Alaska.

Avid climber Geri Winkler - now the third in his country to attain this goal -achieved his life-long ambition with the hep of insulin therapy developed by pharmaceutical company Bayer Healthcare.

The therapy gives the diabetic athlete a high level of flexibility to administer the hormone according to his body's demand for it.

"I prefer a system that is easy to use and good for ten tests after I insert the sensor disc," said Winkler. One advantage is that the system doesn't need to be manually coded when a new test strip pack is opened, which can be a frequent source of errors.

Winkler made the decision to take up the Seven Summits challenge in the autumn of 2003. In May 2006, he became the first diabetic to reach the 8,848 metre-high summit of the world's highest mountain.

The Seven Summits - a group of mountains comprising the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.