For weeks leading up to his Africa trip to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, John L. Smith was asked many times about his sanity for climbing a mountain in his off-season to which he responded, "Oh, it's a Gucci climb."

When he returned from his six-day climb to the top of the largest freestanding mountain in the world, the words out of Smith's mouth are not quite so calm.

"I joked about the ease of the climb ahead of time, but the truth is - it's not all that Gucci," said Smith with a chuckle.

"When this group got done with the climb, they said it's the hardest thing they've ever had to do."

For a man who has sky-dived out of a plane, barrell-rolled in a fighter jet, ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain and starred in his own rap video, that is no small statement.

Smith and 10 other climbers made the journey to climb to the top of the 19,340-feet Uruhu Peak in Tanzania and reaching the summit on July 21.

The coach, who has become known for his exaggerated speech, seemed at a loss for words when trying to describe what it was like to watch the sun rise on the top of the peak.

"It was phenomenal, almost like a religious experience," Smith said. "It has to be a highlight of your life. What a moment - I couldn't stop crying."

Among the 10 climbers that joined Smith were his two sons, Nick and Sam, and John McCallie, the husband of women's basketball coach Joanne P. McCallie. One of the other climbers on the trip was Jill Witzenburg, 60, who was making her second trip to the top of Kilimanjaro.

"I'm really glad I did it again," Witzenburg said. "It was a little insane to climb it a second time and I won't do it again, but to be able to go up with my husband was special."

Smith said that Witzenburg was the group's motivator but he questioned her own sanity a bit.

"No sane person would do this twice," Smith said. "You really have to question Jill's sanity to do this more than once."

From nausea to headaches, Smith said the climb took a physical toll on all the climbers. It wasn't the physical symptoms that created the strongest deterrence, Smith said, but the mental.

"When your mind doesn't have oxygen, it forgets to work," said Smith. "There were boulders moving all over that mountain doing strange things - jumping. It was different."

For many of the climbers, the two week trip began with an African safari. Smith's wife, Diana, and daughter, Kayse, joined the family for the safari where Smith said he saw lions, hippos, crocodiles, wildebeests, zebras and "enough flamingos to turn a lake pink."

And although the sunrise on the mountain top will be the most memorable moment of his trip, Smith said a charging elephant, who had to have shots fired at it to be scared away, on the safari may come in a close second.

"All you could see was ears and eyes," Smith said. "It was major excitement."

Between Smith's jokes of finding some new quick speed defensive ends and almost getting kicked off the mountain by McCallie's refusal to listen to the guides, Smith got serious about the physical strain the trip took on the climbers.

"I think everybody was excited that it was over because it was like pulling teeth to get up there," Smith said. "We all breathed a sigh of relief that we had all made it up."

Having all 11 climbers make it to the top was an accomplishment in itself. Before the trip, the group had been warned that normally with that many people only five or six would make it to the top.

"We were a team from day one when we all met each other," Smith said. "You learn a lot about each other and grow together as a group."

The trip made enough of an impact on Smith that he said he plans to use some of it as a motivational tool for his team in the upcoming season.

"If they can get some motivation out of that, it's great," Smith said. "You can learn a lot from it, like how we have to challenge ourselves to get the most out of life just like we have to challenge ourselves to get the most out of every play."

Smith knows that with his young team, the upcoming season will not be easy but a faded white Rose Bowl sweatshirt that hangs in his office stands as motivation of what could come some day.

"This is an important year for us," Smith said. "To get back to the Rose Bowl has to be all of our goals, but it's going to take us awhile to realize that because this is a transition year."

With the upcoming season on his mind and having spent two weeks exhausting himself in Africa, it may seem like Smith needs another vacation but he strongly disagrees.

"Anyone can sit by the pool and drink Mai Tais," Smith said. "Really, what kind of vacation is that?"