Chris celebrates scaling South American summit at third attempt

Chris (51), a painter and decorator who spray paints kitchens in his day job, clambered to the 7,000-metre summit of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina.

Atrocious weather had caused Chris to twice abort the climb in recent years, on one occasion he got within 650 metres of the peak.

It is part of his challenge to ascend the highest mountains on seven continents – having already scaled Mount Elbrus in Russia in June 2014 and Kilimanjaro two years later, to complete the Europe and Africa elements.

The Covid pandemic caused him to pause his next plans until this year.

The four remaining summits on his list are Mount Vinson (Antarctica), Carstentsz Pyramid (Ocenania), Denali (North America) and the iconic Everest (Asia).

On his latest achievement on Mount Aconcagua, Chris told the Melton Times: “We had some really, really bad weather, it was minus 38 on summit night.

"We were the only people to get to the summit but it was very challenging.

"There was very deep snow and the last 1,000ft was basically more of a scramble because there was so much snow and icy in the big gully that takes you to the summit."

He added: “It was absolutely brilliant when we got to the top, given the other two failed attempts and the difficulty of the night and the expedition.”

Chris and his climbing colleagues were in Argentina beforehand for about three-and-a-half weeks and he was on Aconcagua for about 10 days.

He had to climb elsewhere in the country to acclimatise before taking a helicopter ride to the base camp.

"It is so cold there which is a real challenge,” said Chris.

"It is your hands and face that feel it most, toes are usually OK because your boots are so well insulated.

"You have to watch out for the difference between cold and frostbite and be aware of it.

"It was regularly minus 20 in the tent and everything was frozen in the morning.”

Chris is planning to climb the Alaskan peak next but the prime time for doing that is May or June so it will probably now happen next year.

The cost of completing his challenge is also proving an issue as he plans the last four climbs.

Chris explained: "The price of getting on an expedition to Everest is now about £60,000 and the permit price alone is £10,000.

"I will have to get sponsorship or look at other avenues with that one.

“There are calls for them to limit the number of people on Everest but it is such a cash cow for the Nepalese government that they’re taking as many permits as they get climbers.

"The guiding companies are charging a fortune and to even get there to climb individually they still want to charge you to use a fixed rope.

"So it is very difficult to climb Everest at a sensible cost.”