Expedition back from Andes climb
A mountain-climbing expedition comprising Greek and Cypriot climbers has just returned home after conquering Aconcagua, the pinnacle of the Andes mountain range, on January 6. Greek climbers had reached the peak in the past, but it was an unprecedented feat for Cypriot climbers. The 6,959-meter Mount Aconcagua, spread across the borders of Chile and Argentina, was host to sweeping winds of up to 95 kilometers per hour and temperatures as low as minus 25 degrees Celsius (-13 Fahrenheit) during the climb. The four-man expedition was headed by Costas Tsivelekas, 56, who failed to conquer Mount Everest from its northern flank as a leader of the Hellas Everest 2004 expedition last May. Other team members had reached the top from both north and south. This latest expedition’s team also included a retired track-and-field national champion, Kyriakos Onisiforou. A Cypriot national, Onisiforou represented Greece during his running days in the 1970s, when the neighboring islanders were permitted to compete for Greece. Tsivelekas and Onisiforou were joined by Panayiota Christopanou and Yiannis Bouskos for the Aconcagua climb.
