5mins with: Tudor Australia's Anton Goldman

How would you describe your company?

Anton Goldman: We're a specialist IT security distributor. Our main vendors are SanDisk, Trustwave, and Mi-token.

How long have you been at Tudor?

AG: Three years. My background is sales and commercial. Before Tudor I was at Systemnet.

How old are you and do you have a family?

AG: I'm 38 and I have a wife and two kids aged 9 and 4. 

In early August you climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. What was that all about?

It was for a charity called Humpty Dumpty which raises money to buy medical equipment for children in need. The aim of the climb - the first one was in 2009 and there's another next year - was for each climber to raise $50,000, aiming for $1 million overall. Which we did achieve, although I'm still only about halfway through raising my amount - industry sponsors are still more than welcome, by the way!

How will the money be used?

Work has begun at Westmead Children's Hospital on a diagnostic centre to assess kids with spasticity. It's called a Gate Centre. With better diagnosis, these kids will likely face fewer operations in their life. This centre is the only one of its kind in Australia.

So you're a bit of a mountain climber, then?

Well, my father had a chain of retail stores selling mountaineering and climbing gear in South Africa and we did a bit of climbing when we were growing up. But I'd certainly never been on a mountain like Kilimanjaro before.

How did you prepare for such a major climb?

I like to stay fit and train three times a week down at Bondi Beach and I have run marathons in the past. For this climb I did a nine-week preparation program - but nothing can prepare you for that level of oxygen deprivation.

How tough was it?

We called it The March of the Dead Penguins on summit night. It was really full on. Five days out of the seven were relatively easy going but getting to the summit and then the descent immediately following was extremely difficult. I'd say it was equivalent to running a marathon. We left at midnight on the final climb to the summit, which took seven hours. All 17 members of the group made it to the summit.

What was going through your mind on the summit?

How quickly can I get off this mountain?!

Did you think about IT security once during the whole trip?

No, all I could think about was self-preservation. But my BlackBerry was on and I did answer a few emails when we were at the 4000 metre level.

Peter Hillary and Jamling Tenzing also did the climb, representing the second and third generation of the original first summiteers of Mt Everest.

How were they?

Absolutely inspirational. They both spoke at length to us over the course of the climb about their vast array of extreme mountaineering experiences around the world. Very humble yet clearly successful individuals who are only too happy to share and educate their fellow trekkers.

Would you do that climb again?

No, I wouldn't climb anything that high again (not this year at least!).