Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdullah al-Thani, the co-founder of Musafir.com, has returned from his attempt to conquer the 6,962m high Mount Aconcagua with a team of three fellow climbers.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdullah al-Thani, who recently beat his personal record while climbing Mount Aconcagua
The Qatar climber undertook the challenge in conjunction with Reach Out to Asia (Rota) in an attempt to raise awareness and funds to help their mission to provide quality education to children throughout Asia.
Sheikh Mohamed climbed the highest mountain in the Americas alongside Dubai resident Masoud Mohamed, Palestinian Raed Zidan and Kuwaiti Zed al-Refai who was the first Arab national to climb the Seven Summits including Mount Everest.
Setting off on their three-week expedition at the end of January, the team took the ‘Polish Gracier Traverse Route’ and while combating the challenging course, they were met with equally intense weather conditions.
Whilst Masoud Mohamed reached the summit, Sheikh Mohamed beat his personal record by reaching 6,700m – 200m from the peak.
He said: “Reaching a goal is an uphill battle, one that we have to tackle one step at a time. Life’s lessons come from the journey, not the destination. This is a personal victory for me and I believe in persistence: persistence in the face of adversity; and persistence in reaching the goal.”
“Unwavering determination is essential, by learning from each setback and using the lessons to make you an even stronger fighter today for reaching your pinnacles tomorrow,” he added.
Having climbed to within 200m of the peak, Sheikh Mohamed had to choose whether to risk his life in the 70km/h wind and freezing temperatures, or turn back.
“There is only so much you can do in preparation, training, and being equipped with the right gear - you can basically think of everything, but in the end odds may still be stacked against you,” he said, explaining “this is where we have to assess the risks along the way.”
“If you don’t reach today, there is always tomorrow, because we decide our own summits, and the road we will take to get there; and like Zed said: ‘The mountain will always be there,’” he added.
Rota acting director Essa al-Mannai said: “We are honoured to have Sheikh Mohamed’s support for making education a right, not a privilege.”
“His continued efforts are a shining example of what can be accomplished with the right determination,” he said, adding “the realisation of personal aspirations and goals, by symbolically climbing our personal peaks, is a big part of a message for today’s youth to have vision and learn from the path that gets them there.”
Sheikh Mohamed added that he was already preparing for his next adventure in his campaign to raise awareness for children’s rights to education.
