Completing her second expedition in Antarctica, the mountaineer and adventurer Thais Herrera climbed the Vinson, the highest mountain of the continent, being the first Dominican to carry our flag to the 4,892 meters above sea level at its summit and thus completing the fifth (5) of the 7 highest peaks of each continent.
“It has been the summit where I have felt the most emotions, because I also reached its summit on my birthday with my flag in my hands, a coincidence that is an immense gift,” she explained.
He indicated that upon reaching the summit the cold was extreme, with temperatures of about -37C and wind chill of -45C. “The cold was unbearable, it was a challenge to even take a picture,” he said.
They arrived in a small DHC-6 aircraft modified for this type of adventure, from Union Glacier to base camp at 2,137 meters above sea level, from where they climbed to base camp to rest. From there they climbed to high camp, where they waited for a good weather window to climb to the summit.
TEAM MEMBERS
The team was led by the famous American mountaineer Garrett Madison and formed by 6 others, among them the owner of the Guinness record for speed on the three highest summits in the world, the Mexican Viridiana Álvarez.
After climbing the mountain, they were stranded for 2 days due to bad weather, until I could fly to pick them up.
Herrera achieved this summit only 12 days after skiing 111 kms to the South Pole, something never done before by any Dominican.
The young woman is carrying out a project she has called “A Dominican meeting at the top” which consists of climbing the highest mountains of each continent (7) and skiing to the North and South Poles.
“To put it in Dominican language, this is what we would call the home run with the bases full of explorers, a person as normal as me simply has the dream of achieving it,” she explained.
ONLY 74 IN THE WORLD
There is only a record of 74 people in the world who have achieved it, with 15 of them being women.
“I feel immensely grateful for the support, messages and prayers that many have sent to achieve these two expeditions in Antarctica. It is a very special place that I will always carry in my heart,” said Herrera.
He said it will take about two weeks of active recovery to start training to climb next April Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, located in Asia and about 8,848 meters above sea level.
“My biggest challenge for Everest now is to get other allies to raise the funds and keep myself healthy by training very hard,” she said.
THAIS HERRERA
Herrera is a mother, entrepreneur and speaker. She is an industrial engineer with a master’s degree in Senior Management and Finance. She is the owner and main facilitator of Asertiva DR, a company specialized in outdoor training and team buildings for companies and educational institutions. She also teaches at Barna Management School.
In addition to being a mountaineer, Herrera is a triathlete, philanthropist and the first Dominican woman to complete an Ironman, of which she has completed 6 to date.
Source: Almomento.net
