On 12 January 2004 at 15.05, the group reach the summit of Aconcagua (6962 meters above sea level). Months of careful planning and hard work had finally paid off. Regardless of why we had come there, we all shared the incredible feeling of reaching the summit of the highest mountain of the southern hemisphere, the second highest in "The Seven Summits of the World". "Only six more to go!" someone laughed while we were grasping the views". For some of the team members this was a once in a lifetime experience while others felt this just being the start of a series of expeditions

We set ourself a simple and straight forward goal before the trip:

To reach the summit of Aconcagua in a controlled and organized manner and return home safely.

We put safety as our highest priority and planned around this and it enabled us to put all four members of the expedition on the summit without any serious injury or illness.

One important part of the preparation was the physical training before the expedition. One example of a training diary leading up to the expedition can be found here.

Apart from physical training you also need to be mentaly prepared for the monotonous physical exercise over sustained periods of time. The team members prepered for this in different ways. Some of us did trekking, mountaineering and climbing 3000 m.a.s.l summits in the Spanish Pyrenees and Jotunheimen (Norway) while others spent hours walking up and down in ski slopes and staircases. One of us even had the luxury of spending a long period in Peru with high altitude trekking prior to the expedition. All of this helped us to adapt to the elements and challenges of Aconcagua.

Many of you supported our effort by donating money to BRIS region Väst, a children’s rights organization acting in Sweden. BRIS was our sole charity organization for this expedition and all donations help founding their work with children in need. We are very grateful for all the donations that came in before, during and after the trip. Please feel free to send your donations if you have not had the chance to do so earlier.

You can see the full list of donations here.