Albanian young man climbs South America’s summit

TIRANA, Jan. 30 – Twenty-year-old Mateo Begeja was the only Albanian climber to reach the summit of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America and one of the Seven Summits, placing the Albanian national flag. Two other Albania climbers including veteran climber Ibrahim Hackaj, 65, Florian Hackaj 30 withdraw just 1,000 metres before the summit because of health problems.
Bad weather prolonged the climb to the 6,960-metre high mountain to 18 days.
The climb of Aconcagua comes after a an Albanian team of climbers, part of Dajti Mountain-Tourist Association become the first to raise the national flag on the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest as part of Albania’s 100th anniversary of independence. Begeja was also part of the team.
The Albanian climbers had already climbed the Mont Blanc and Kilimanajaro summits before deciding to take the risk of climbing the world’s highest peak at 8,848 metres above the sea level located in the Himalayas on the Nepal-China (Tibet) border.