Maxime Edgard Chaya was born and raised in Beirut Lebanon until the year 1975 when the civil war saw him and his family take refuge abroad. He pursued his education overseas in Greece, France, Canada and the United Kingdom where he graduated with an Honors degree from the London School of Economics.

Besides outstanding academics, Maxime showed great interest in sports and seemed to excel in every discipline he would try. His determination perseverance and willpower won him several awards and trophies in a host of disciplines both at national and international level.

Maxime now resides in Lebanon and is married with two children: Edgard and Kelly. Despite work and family life, he has kept his fitness level at the very top but has gradually put down his rackets, skates, and various balls to take up more "open air" sports such as biking, running, skiing, and climbing.

In 1999, while on a visit to Kenya for an International Mountain Bike stage race -which he won- Maxime went on to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in nearby Tanzania. Little did he know that this was to be the first of his Seven Summits, and as he watched the sunrise from the roof of Africa he pondered over his desire to challenge himself yet further on these new grounds: the high Mountain.

Since his partnership with Bank Audi on the "Seven Summits project" in 2003, it has been one successful expedition after another for Maxime, acquiring wisdom, knowledge and experience while discovering new limits within him and growing beyond his potential summit after summit…