The home page of Cason Crane’s website asks, "What’s your Everest?"

The question is not as metaphorical as it sounds.

Crane – an adventurer, athlete and activist – has actually climbed Mt. Everest.

He’s also traveled to over 70 countries on all seven continents, and climbed seven of the world’s highest mountains. He’s rafted through uninhabited jungles; ridden a horse across Mongolia, and backpacked through the most remote corners of the world.

He has volunteered at orphanages in China and Ethiopia; worked in a drug rehab center in Thailand; helped save elephants in Sri Lanka; tackled alternative energy issues in Haiti, and interned for non-profits in the Middle East.

The fact that he is just 20 years old – and gay – is just icing on the cake.

Crane credits his parents with constantly pushing him to try new things. Growing up near Princeton, N.J., team sports were not his thing. But running and swimming were. He was an outdoorsman too, and after climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro with his mother, he realized that achieving a summit – setting a goal, then enjoying both the satisfaction and view upon reaching it – suited his personality perfectly.

He was 15 years old at the time.

The next year, a very close friend at Choate Rosemary Hall – a highly regarded Connecticut boarding school – committed suicide. Crane wanted to do something. He was too young to volunteer for the Trevor Project – a national 24-hour suicide hotline for LGBT and questioning youth – nor did he have money to contribute. Instead, he ran Choate’s Gay-Straight Alliance.

Crane had come out two years earlier, as a freshman. "It never occurred to me not to come out," he says, describing his life after realizing he was gay. "It’s a non-story."

Family and friends accepted him warmly. "It wasn’t a huge deal. I talked about guys like guys talked about girls," he recalls. A four-year, three-sport varsity athlete (cross country, swimming and track), he never had a problem with teammates. (However, he jokes, "occasionally in the locker room I felt like Moses parting the Red Sea. Guys on other teams avoided me as I walked through." It didn’t bother him one bit.)

As graduation (summa cum laude) approached in 2011, Crane realized he could combine his love of mountain climbing with his interest in LGBT youth advocacy. He decided to defer entrance into Princeton University, and concentrate on climbing Mt. Everest. But this would not be just an attempt to scale the world’s most famous mountain. He created a "Rainbow Summits Project" to raise money and awareness for the Trevor Project.

Using social media, personal contacts and his own speaking talents in appearances at schools and community groups, Crane went to work.

In mid-March, he flew to Nepal. He met his support team and bonded with them. "Trust is very important on a climb like this," he notes.

He already knew and trusted one person: his mother. "She trekked in with me," he says. "That was really cool."

The two-month expedition involved a series of climbs from the 18,000-foot base camp to adjust to the dangerous altitude. Meanwhile, the group waited for a "good weather window." It arrived in mid-May. At 4 a.m. on May 21, Crane reached the summit of Mt. Everest.

The feeling was like nothing he’d ever experienced. Four months later, he struggles to describe the moment. "It was intensely emotional," he says. "The sun lit up the horizon. It was so beautiful, I cried." Crane watched the spectacle for 45 minutes, trying to remember every image. "Everest symbolizes so much," he says. "There I was at age 20, on top of the world." He was there literally, as well as figuratively.

Crane’s climb symbolizes the journey many gay people take, he says: one step at a time, reaching their own "Everest." It also had the tangible effect of raising $135,000 for the Trevor Project, and inspiring people he’s never met, all around the world.

This month, Crane comes back to earth. He’s returned from halfway around the world, to a college eight minutes from home. With no mountains in New Jersey, he looks forward to studying international relations and Arabic.

Of course, Crane will remain active too. He plans to return to triathlon competitions. He’s signed up for his second Ironman.

One day in late August, he capped off a 20-mile bike ride with a five-mile run. That was nothing special – except the day before, he’d returned from a trip to North Korea.

Training hard for a grueling competition is one more Everest-type test. But it’s one Cason Crane welcomes. "As a young gay man, I see people facing challenges every day," he says. "They’re proud of what they accomplish. And I’m proud because they’re proud."