Conquering the Highest Mountain in the Western Hemisphere

Conquering the highest mountain in the western hemisphere...

Christensen isn’t the type to set out and conquer the highest peaks in the world like Everest or Kilimanjaro, but he chose Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the western hemisphere, to help raise awareness for a project through Youth for Christ (YFC) to build a youth centre in Bogata, Columbia.

The director for the Latin America chapter of YFC, Geordon Rendle was the one that proposed this journey of 22,841 vertical feet and he was right there with Christensen all the way to the top.

“The interesting surprise is everything athletic is backwards, normally as an athlete when it gets difficult you push harder, no pain no gain, but with the altitude that’s the worst thing you can do,” says Christensen about the challenge of the climb. “When it gets harder you go slower.”

“It was an amazing experience without question, a lifetime experience and a rare opportunity.”

Christensen travelled to the Andes in Latin America in January of this year, taking on the elements, hiking towards base camps, altitude sickness, mental and physical fatigue but ultimately making it to the summit.

On summit day, he explains it was an extremely slow trek, taking 7 hours while concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. Christensen was in good hands with his guide Lito, who was completing his 50th summit, a legend in his own way.

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