JANESVILLE - Mount Everest. The tallest, most intimidating mountain in the world. The only way to get there is a long and dangerous climb.

Lori Schneider, a 52-year-old Janesville native, recently clawed her way to the top of the world.

Mike Jacobs: "How dangerous was this adventure?"

Lori: "Oh, it's extremely dangerous....One fall, if you're not hooked in properly, can be deadly."

In fact, several people already died this year on the mountain. Lori's journey was more challenging than most. Ten years ago, she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

"I thought I would be in a wheelchair back in 1999," she admits.

Instead, she decided to climb 'The Seven Summits,' the highest peak on each of the seven continents. Her motto was simple: "Believe in yourself and don't be afraid to try things."

But her challenge was great. Everest was her seventh and most dangerous ascent. The journey took two months, living in tents, perched on the edge of a steep drop-off. She remembers one night when they heard a lot of avalanches, coming off the Khumbu Icefall. It was an incredible view. But one avalanche proved to be deadly.

"We realized that there were climbers trapped...and the guides got out binoculars and we saw two climbers partially buried, and we heard later that the Sherpa that was with them was lost and was never found again, so there were very fearful of things happening," Lori recalls.

The crevasses were equally frightening. "Oh, the crevasses. You know, that was the thing I feared the most," Lori admits.

Two members of Lori's climbing party had to be airlifted off the mountain because of critical illnesses caused by the altitude. For the last five days of the climb, Lori was on oxygen continuously, fighting physical and mental exhaustion. She even had to sleep with oxygen.

She says she also continually battled bitter cold, "On summit day, it started out below zero. Because you're so high it's cold. And it got colder and colder as we went up the mountain, but the winds were the real factor there. It was about a 60 mile an hour wind as we got toward the top."

The 11-hour climb that day started in darkness--timed to reach the summit as dawn was breaking. After years of training, Lori finally reached the top of the world, 29,035 feet.

Lori remembers the feeling. "My heart started beating, I can't believe I'm actually here after 16 years of climbing," she says.

She stayed at the summit just long enough to unfurl her 'World M.S. Day' banner. "This to me was my triumph over the label that was given to me 10 years ago." Lori adds, "I needed to prove to myself that I was still in control of my physical body."

Lori has this simple advice for anyone struggling with M.S., or any challenge in life: "Don't give up hope."

Lori Schneider refused to give up hope, and through sheer grit and determination, this amazing Wisconsin woman is now the first person with M.S. to conquer Mt. Everest, and all Seven Summits.

Lori plans to take other people with M.S. on big outdoor adventures. She's now a motivational speaker. You can find more information at www.empowermentthroughadventure.com.