In 2007, I became a humble supporter of the Navy SEAL Warrior Fund. A few months after attending the Fund’s gala, my friend, actor James Gandolfini and I were eating lunch together when a letter from the commanding officer of SEAL Team 5 arrived. In it, the CO reminded Jim that the two had gone to high school together and explained that he and his team mates would like to buy a Kobold watch for a SEAL critically wounded in action. Did he (Gandolfini) know someone at the Kobold Watch Company who might be helpful in facilitating a discount, the letter continued. We looked at each other puzzled by this coincidence, and Jim decided then and there that he would donate the watch to the wounded SEAL. I then flew to San Diego to hand deliver the watch to the wounded SEAL, who at the time was recuperating at the Naval Medical Center. As a result of that memorable and emotional visit, a friendship developed between the CO, the wounded SEAL and myself.

In Spring of 2008, I joined another friend, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, on his expedition to Mt. Everest. Never having had the ambition to climb anything other than a step ladder, I was out of my element. Soon, Ran and his guide Kenton Cool had me climbing up and down the mountain to ever-increasing altitudes. Unfortunately, due to the prevailing conditions, Ran did not reach the summit and of course neither did I. A few months later, at the second annual Navy SEAL Warrior Fund gala in New York City, I caught up with old friends, including the aforementioned wounded SEAL. The CO of one of the teams overheard me talking about climbing Mount Everest and inquired how far I had gone. When he learned that I had only climbed to approximately 20,000 feet, he responded “well, that’s not really the summit,” and gave me a stern look. This I found more intimidating than motivating at the time, but the exchange got me thinking.

Mountaineering for the sake of proving something to myself was not an issue; I had lived too comfortable a life of eating chocolates and sitting around to have that ambition. But the idea of summitting Mt. Everest in order to raise awareness of the Warrior Fund was something that struck a chord. What if I had actually prepared for the 2008 Everest expedition? Could the summit have been reached? With the help of a couple of Navy SEAL friends -including a BUD/s instructor- who volunteered to train me, the idea of the 2009 Everest Challenge Expedition was born.

Five months later, on May 21st, 2009, Ran Fiennes, Kenton Cool and I reached the summit of Mt. Everest with the help of our sherpas. We hoisted a large flag depicting the U.S. Navy SEAL trident on the summit and returned to base camp two days later. Ran Fiennes became the oldest Briton to reach the summit, Kenton Cool became the first European to reach the summit a record seven times, and last and perhaps least, I became the world’s first watchmaker to reach the summit. I also met my future wife on the expedition.

We achieved our goal by using supplemental oxygen, which we breathed in through air cylinders. This year, in 2010, we are going to attempt to put at least one expedition member on the summit without the use of supplemental oxygen. My wife, Anita, a renowned Himalaya mountaineer, will join us in our efforts. Anita is the first Hungarian female to reach the summit of Mt. Everest. She is also one of only 24 women in the world who have scaled four or more 8,000 meter peaks. Of course, unlike Anita, most women are very sensible and don’t do these kinds of things. Nonetheless, Anita is extremely fit and has the highest chances of all of us of making our team effort a success.