LONDON: Jessica Biel was so emotional after reaching the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro on Tuesday, she broke down in tears.

The actress climbed to the top of the 19,340-foot-high (5,895-metre) Tanzanian peak for the Summit on the Summit: Kilimanjaro campaign with a team of celebrities, including actor Emile Hirsch and rapper Lupe Fiasco.

And the 27 year old was so exhausted after six days of climbing that she sobbed when the group made it to the mountaintop, according to her fellow hiker, United Nations Foundation executive
 Elizabeth Gore.

Gore tells People.com, "I
 walked over to Jessie and gave her a big hug. The two of us embraced and
 we just cried. Every single one of us was in absolute tears. The temperature was zero degrees and so many people were struggling. People had hurt limbs, people had altitude sickness."

But Gore admits making their way back was also a struggle, adding: "The
 way down is so steep. And we had ice, so you're stepping
 sideways, trying not to slip. And we hit big boulders, so we had to
 hop-skip. We had major knee issues."

After their triumph, the climbers celebrated by indulging in a warm meal at a local restaurant in Arusha, Tanzania on Wednesday evening.