Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani at the summit of Mount Aconcagua in South America.
DOHA: Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Thani has reached the summit of Mount Aconcagua in South America, becoming the first Qatari to conquer the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere.
This adventure lasted three weeks in his quest to scale The Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the seven continents of the world with a mission to raise awareness that education is a right for everyone on behalf of Reach Out to Asia (Rota).
‘Rahhalah for adventure explorations’ recently became one of his priority issues to encourage ecological travel destinations to care for environmental protection and travel and to discover cultures of new destinations with respect for different cultures.
Sheikh Mohammed, co-founder of Musafir.com, was accompanied by his friends Raed Zidan, Ziad Al Sharabi, Anis Tabka and the videographer Elia Saikaly. Together the group forms ‘Arabs with Altitude’, a team of adrenaline-rush seeking explorers who trek the globe in search of higher heights to reach.
Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas, at 6,962m. It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the province of Mendoza, Argentina, 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 make it more difficult.
“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 eight hours but it took us 13 hours due to bad weather conditions. This adventure is a true test of endurance.
“We were exposed on summit day to strong winds with a speed of 60km per hour and snow storms with low temperatures reaching to -20 degrees Celsius and poor visibility,” said Sheikh Mohammed.
“The most difficult part was the descent from the summit, given the heavy backpacks we were carrying weighing up to 20kg and the strong winds with freezing temperatures while seeking to overcome psychological stress by pushing our limits to overcome the effects of the 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 take inspiration from my actions, pushing themselves to the limits and finding that they, too, can come out victorious if they work hard enough.”
The Peninsula
