PRINCETON, Mass. — A local man has accomplished a feat very few in the entire world ever come close to; at 19 years old, Ryan Mitchell can now say he’s been to the top of the world. 

“I never was really a big hiker, to be honest," said Mitchell.

In preparation to climb Mount Everest, the teen from Rutland, MA said he did a lot of his training locally.

“We’re at Wachusett Mountain right now, the mountain's right over there and this is the trail I always go on six hours with a 35-50 lbs pack," Mitchell said. "It's like a second home now, so it feels kind of good to be back.”

Mitchell said he was able to fund the journey, which he believes cost more than $120,000 in total, through his YouTube channel.

“So, I have a Minecraft channel. I've wanted to be a YouTuber ever since I was 10. And that's how this all started," Mitchell said. "About a year and a half ago I got into climbing Everest. I really wanted to climb. It all started with just thinking of the YouTube title ‘I Climbed Mount Everest’ because I love making YouTube videos as well.”

And he said documenting the climb helped him to keep pushing forward.

“You can't just let your mind go numb up there," Mitchell said. "By recording, I was able to kind of keep it fresh and not have to think, 'OK, what am I going to be recording next? What have I already said?' That kind of kept me locked in, I would say.”

Now Mitchell said his goal is to continue to inspire people by showing perseverance pays off — and can even get you to the top of the world.

“Find this goal that calls to you and just immediately tackle it. Don't waste any time," Mitchell said. "When I found Everest, I was 217lbs, I'm 160 now. Before I left, I was 170, I lost 10lbs. But before that I couldn't even run a mile. My life I've completely changed, like my psychology and everything, which I'm super stoked about, of course. But the whole reason why is because this goal called to me. I wanted to make it happen so bad, and it was so out of this realm that I had to lock in to make it happen.”