Sharjah: An Emirati has planted the UAE flag on the summit of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America.
Aconcagua is the highest peak in both the Western and Southern Hemispheres, and is part of the Andes mountain range in Argentina.
The UAE flag was flown on the peak by Shaikh Mohammad Bin Abdullah Al Thani, founder of the Musafer.com travels website, who undertook the expedition as an ambassador of the Reach Out To Asia foundation, a Qatari non-governmental foundation that aims to provide the highest levels of education to children in Asia.
Al Thani climbed the 6,962-metre-high mountain alongside Raed Zeydan, Ziad Al Sharabi, Anis Tabqa, and videographer Elia Syakali.
“Climbing this mountain was an endurance test, with the speed of icy winds at 60 km/h, fog, and a temperature of -15 degrees. Our team, however, was determined to reach their target,” Al Thani said. “We were supposed to reach the top in 8 hours, it took us 13 hours though, due to unexpected climate changes. The toughest stage of the climb was the descent; we had to maintain our strength and balance due to the heavy weight of our backpacks, which was around 20 kgs.”
