Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani, co-founder of Musafir.com has returned after reaching the summit of Mount Aconcagua in South America (6,962 m), the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere.

The climb lasted for a period of three weeks in his quest to conquer The Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the seven continents of the world, with a noble mission to raise awareness that education is a right for everyone in the name of Reach Out to Asia (Rota) – the Qatari non-governmental organisation focused on making high quality education accessible across Asia.

Sheikh Al Thani was accompanied by his friends Raed Zidan, Ziad Al-Sharabi, Anis Tabka and the videographer Elia Saikaly. Together the group forms ‘Arabs with Altitude’.

Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas at 6,962 m. It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the province of Mendoza, Argentina. It is the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere and is one of the Seven Summits. The mountain has a number of glaciers and the most well-known is the Polish Glacier.

Although climbing this mountain is not considered technically difficult, it entails being subjected to severe weather conditions with fog, strong winds, snow storms, low temperatures and visibility including the high altitude symptoms which makes it hard.

“This climb requires serious commitment, extensive mountaineering experience and excellent physical fitness – especially when called upon to climb eight hours a day. The summit day was supposed to take 8 hours but it took us 13 hours due to the bad weather conditions,” Al Thani said. “This adventure is a true test of endurance ability. We were exposed on summit day to strong winds with a speed of 60 kms per hour and snow storms with low temperatures reaching to -20 degrees Celsius and poor visibility”.

“The most difficult part was the descent from the summit given the heavy backpacks we were carrying weighing up to 20 kgs and facing the strong winds with freezing temperatures while seeking to overcome the psychological stress by pushing our limits to overcome the effects of altitude draining our energy as we were descending.

“This new adventure is one among six - Mount Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, Mount Vinson, Mount Elbrus and Mount Kosciuszko. As I continue to challenge myself to see how much I can attain, I hope others will find inspiration in my actions, pushing themselves to the limits and finding that they, too, can come out victorious if they work hard enough,” he concluded. – TradeArabia News Service