Dan Mallory’s love affair with mountains, which began 22 years ago with a climb up Pico Bolívar, Venezuela’s highest peak, led him to the top of Mt. Everest on 25 May. His sons, Adam and Alan, were with him; his daughter, Laura, summited the next day.

In 2001, the member of the Rotary Club of Barrie, Ont., Canada, decided to challenge himself by climbing the seven summits, the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. As an added twist, he planned to do each with at least one member of his family.

After summiting Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina with Adam, Mt. McKinley (Denali) in Alaska with Alan, Mt. Kosciuszko in Australia with his wife, Barbara, Mt. Elbrus in Russia with Laura, and Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania with Barbara and Laura, Mallory decided it was time to tackle Everest.

Mallory, 57, along with Adam, 25, and Alan, 23, reached the summit first, completing the climb with their Sherpa guides on the morning of 25 May. Laura, 20, was held up by acute mountain sickness but reached the top the next day. Barbara started the climb but had to drop out after tearing her Achilles tendon.

The summit is a small space, a rectangle measuring about 6 1/2 by 23 feet, with sharp drop-offs on three sides and a steep area leading from the Hillary Step, an abrupt spur of rock and ice. A Buddha statue sits at the top, draped in prayer flags and other mementos from climbers – now including a banner from the Rotary Club of Barrie.

The Mallorys’ climb is the first time a family of five has attempted to summit together. Laura is now the youngest Canadian and youngest woman, and Alan the second-youngest Canadian man, to reach the top of Everest.

What’s next for this adventurous family? “There’s still one more,” says Mallory, referring to Vinson Massif in Antarctica. He hopes to complete his quest in 2010. But for now, he has returned to his insurance business in Barrie with a wealth of stories to be told. “You don’t ever want to get to a point in life where you look back and say I wish I had, but now it is too late.”