A new world record for playing video games on Mount Everest has been set.
Utah native William Cruz established the mark by playing "Far Cry 4" on the world's tallest mountain.
The 23 year old earned the opportunity to play the latest installment in the first-person shooter adventure franchise set in the Himalayas by winning Ubisoft's "Quest for Everest: The Gaming Journey of a Lifetime" contest, according to Fox News.
The adventure was Cruz's first time outside the U.S. He visited Kathmandu, Khumjung Monastery and the Khumbu Glacier along the way to the Ubisoft Base Camp at Mount Everest. The young man said getting to his destination was not easy.
"As we gained altitude, walking became harder and harder, sleeping became harder and you even had to drink a lot more water. You almost always feel like you just finished running three miles, all the time," Cruz said. "I remember after surpassing 15,000 feet., I had to wake up multiple times in the night and focus on breathing to relieve minor headaches."
The goal was to set the record at 18,000 feet, which required 15 men and five yaks to get the equipment set up, Fox News reported. While dealing with 25 mph winds, Cruz also had to wait eight hours for the sun to set to make sure he could see the screen.
After playing for about 90 minutes on his PlayStation 4 at a recorded elevation of 18,569 feet, Cruz earned himself the "Guinness World Record for Highest Altitude Videogame Console Session." While playing the game his charcter died several times, but the views from the mountain may have played a role in that.
Cruz said he had frost on his jacket by the time he finished playing, and that he was surprised the PS4 didn't run into any issues at the temperatures he was playing at.
"It was really cool, because you would see prayer flags and these massive snowcapped mountains in the game, then you would look up and see it in real life," he said. "It was amazing."
Cruz is eager to go on another adventure, saying that despite the challenges he faced, "I would do it again in a heartbeat."
