Trekking up the world’s highest mountains is not the typical pursuit of a 14-year-old. But this is no ordinary teenager.

Ulster adventurer George Atkinson, along with his father Mark and a team from Adventure Peaks, reached the summit of Mount Aconcagua in the Andes this week and is expected to return to ground level again on Sunday.

Completing the Seven Summit challenge before he reaches 18 is the young mountaineer’s ultimate ambition, and this will see him scaling the highest peaks in each of the world’s seven continents. If he succeeds, he would be the youngest person in the world to complete the daunting challenge.

George, who spends half the year in England and the other half in Northern Ireland, set a UK record for his ascent of Aconcagua. However, his family explained that his love of climbing originates from time he spent in the Mournes.

He has already scaled the heights of Elbrus in Europe, Kilimanjaro in Africa and Carstensz Pyramid in Australia. Now, having completed Aconcagua in South America he is left with Mount Vinson in Antarctica, Denali (Mount McKinley) in North America, and of course Everest — the summit of Asia and the highest point in the world.

However, his Ulster-born mother Penny points out his schoolwork will prove an obstacle to this goal, but this at least affords her a few nights of restful sleep.

Penny explains how she copes with her young son being so far away from home in such perilous conditions: “The first time he went on a climb I was so nervous. But now I just have to put it to the back of my mind until he gets back down.”

George climbed the highest mountain in Northern Ireland when he was just eight, Slieve Donard in the Mournes, and his mother revealed how his passion started.

She said: “George’s father was a keen climber in his youth, when the kids were born he put it aside and went back to it when George was little.

When the family are back in Northern Ireland, George and his father Mark enjoy nothing more than a ramble up in the Mourne Mountains.

Mountain climbing, although George’s passion, is just one of the teenager’s many hobbies, according to Penny he is a fan of “the usual boy hobbies — including spending too much time playing computer games!”

Training for the remaining three summits takes up much of George’s spare time; due to his age he cannot train in a gym, so he walks and cycles to prepare himself for the climbs.

George is well aware of his need to be in peak fitness for this feat. While many teenagers brag about achieving a high score on an Xbox game, George does not boast about his impressive accomplishments.

Penny, explaining her son’s modesty, said: “He’s very low key about it, he didn’t tell any of his friends he was going up Mount Aconcagua, but he had to tell his form tutor to be excused. On the last day of term she wished him luck and that was the first his friends heard.”