Dale Cokley, Thomas Cramer, Henk Morgans set climbing record Reaching the summit of the eight highest peaks in each Australian state and territory. Done. THREE daredevil Aussies, eight gruelling mountains and a new world record. These guys are either awesome or out of their minds! Dale Cokley, a 25-year-old Engineering Manger, Thomas Cramer, a 25-year-old Civil Engineer and Henk Morgans, a 31-year-old Arborist, all from Brisbane, climbed the eight highest peaks of each Australian state and territory in just six days, 21 hours and 30 minutes smashing the previous record of eight days and 14 hours set in 2013. Travelling over 18,500 kilometres, the group took 12 flights, drove for 60 hours, rode bikes for 42 kilometres and ran for 42 hours to complete the challenge. Enduring snow, freezing temperatures and blistering heat the group had only 15 hours of sleep over the entire six days. We chose to complete the record as a personal challenge. The record was originally set in April, 2013 by an Aussie and two Poms, so we thought an all Aussie team needed the record," says Dale. On 17 August this year in the peak of winter, these three Aussies became record holders finishing their challenge in the ACT at Mt Bimberri. Hank, front, Dale, left and Thomas, above are world record holders. Conquering WA's highest peak, that's one crossed off the list. "We were logging between 70 - 100km of running per week, on top of strength training in the gym, rock climbing and mountain biking," says Dale. We had only climbed Mt Kosciusko together in a training run before the challenge, so the other peaks were a surprise each day. After deciding to undertake the challenge in April this year, the group spent four months planning their adventure. All our flights were pre-booked, so we had to make our connections, we had some challenges renting vehicles suitable for snow. Luckily we had no missed flights but we had to work hard and there was a few extremely close calls," he says. The group suffered physical challenges to meet their tight schedules. An unexpected bike ride had to be factored in. No matter how meticulous your planning, there are always going to be some roadblocks along the way. We were unable to access one of the peaks via the original route as the National Park had closed the access road for winter due to excessive snowfall. This meant a late minute itinerary change and flight shuffle during the trip. We ended up having to skip the Bimberi Peak (ACT) in the order we had planned and come back to it at the end of the trip. We bought three bikes from the tip in Canberra and headed out at night to ride into the official start point of the mountain. We also had the access bridge to Arm River carpark in Tasmania closed on the night we were trying to drive in there. Which meant we had to navigate at night through old forestry trails to find another way to access the carpark," says Dale. Heads down. Trekking through snow was exhausting. Still smiling. These guys know they are making history. Mt Ossa was the most difficult peak due to the excessive snowfall, it was brutally tough with waist deep snow but it was also the most beautiful. The peak is located halfway along the overland track in Tasmania which is completely isolated as it only accessible by a 20km hike in," he says. The most sleep the group had at any one time was around four hours and at the final stages of the trip they went 58 hours without sleep to ensure they broke the record. The conditions on most of the peaks made for suffering. Mt Woodroffe and Mt Zeil were covered in thick spinifex which was like nowhere I have been previously. We spent hours of painful trekking and running through the silica infused needles. The snow on Bimberi, Bogong, Kosi and Ossa made it freezing cold and slow going. I remember our sleeping bags were frozen solid as we slept under the stars at Thredbo in minus 12 degrees Celsius and suffering hallucinations from massive sleep deprivation. Their GPS watches showed it was a freezing minus 12 degrees Celsius. One extreme to the other. From snow to desert. The group lived on energy gels, Cliff bars, water and electrolytes, grabbing whatever fresh food was available along the way. Fruit, bread and dehydrated meals were luxuries as was the occasional freddo frog. The trip was entirely self funded with some help from K2 Base Camp for gear, gym training by Base Camp Adventure Fitness and Goal Zero Australia who provided their power needs. Feeling on top of the world. So what's next? We have our eyes on breaking the record for the Australian Alps Trail. We are also planning another record setting trip in Tassie early next year which will involve, running, sea kayaking and rock climbing so watch this space," says Dale. Australia's eight highest summits NSW: Mt Kosciuszko, 2228m VIC: Mt Bogong, 1986m ACT: Bimberi Peak, 1913m QLD: Mt Bartle Frere, 1622m TAS: Mt Ossa, 1617m NT: Mt Zeil, 1531m SA: Mt Woodroffe, 1435m WA: Mt Meharry, 1253m The group are already planning their next adventure. It's one way to see Australia. They literally travelled to every corner of Australia.