13-Year-Old Lexington Boy Scales Mount Kilimanjaro

LEXINGTON (CBS) - What did you accomplish this summer? One 13-year-old from Lexington has an answer that few in the world could ever dream of.

"It was pretty amazing," says Ian Urban, now among the youngest people to ever climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

He and his family went to Africa to take-on the world's tallest freestanding mountain in August. It took them a week to get to the top.

"It feels like it's just taking forever to get there because you're going so slow. It just feels like it's getting farther and farther away," says Urban.

He wears a bracelet with the African word "Pole" woven into it.

"It means slow," explains his father, Robert Urban.

It was the one word that would eventually get them to the summit without any altitude sickness.

"And so you go very slow."

Urban used the trek to raise about $1,200 for Heifer International, which donates animals to needy families throughout the world.

His father says the boy led the group of 16 others the whole way.

"We went knowing we might not make it to the top, but we'd have a great time trying," he said.

They had help from a team of professional guides, including a medical crew.

When they got to the top, Ian admits he was exhausted.

It was 5 degrees, and the sun was blistering.

"He had a big smile on his face," says his father.

His reward was a view from above the clouds, and a life lesson that when you take it slow, you can achieve what seems impossible.