Gale stops climbers flying off mountain peak

Times photographer and veteran climber Marianne Schwankhart and champion paraglider Pierre Carter, reached the summit of Mount Aconcagua, in Argentina, late on Tuesday but could not fly off the peak.

Only about 20% of climbers of the 6969m mountain this season got to the peak because of hostile weather. Aconcagua is the second-highest of the world's "seven summits".

Schwankhart said yesterday that relentless gale-force winds stopped her from paragliding from the summit.

"The wind would come howling through in gusts, and the breaks were not long enough for us to take off," she said.

"We laid out the glider on the summit but all four of us had to lie on it to stop it from flying away."

Expedition cameramen Kyle Donoghue and Guy Hubbard ascended with them. Schwankhart said the team spent six hours on the summit, waiting for a chance to fly that never came.

"But Pierre flew off the top of Aconcagua two years ago and this time we got really cool footage."

Carter, 43, and Schwankhart, 34, want to be the first team to climb and paraglide off all seven of the world summits. The team's permit to be on Aconcagua expires on Monday and forecasts for the next six days are for even stronger winds.

Schwankhart said they moved their summiting day from Wednesday to Tuesday to catch the best wind.

"The changing winds were going berserk so we skipped our rest day and went straight up.

"It was extremely cold and we walked in our down jackets all the way. The water in my bladder [water container], inside my jacket, got frozen."

Schwankhart, who has climbed rock walls from Patagonia to Pakistan, said that the ascent to nearly 7000m took all their energy.

The higher the altitude, the less oxygen is in the air. At the summit of Aconcagua, the air contains roughly half the oxygen it would at sea level.

"We were out of breath. We would walk 10m and then sit down. We were carrying heavy packs with the camera and gliding equipment," she said.

"I found it very rough because early on my shoulders and neck went into spasm and I could not turn my neck."

When they got back to their high camp that night, she could barely bend to enter the tent.

On Wednesday, Carter and Hubbard flew from camp 2 past the base camp and had a rough landing. Carter hurt his foot and Hubbard's camera was damaged.

"We were in turbulence all the time," Carter said.

Schwankhart and Donoghue hauled all the heavy gear down to the base camp. They planned to hike 40km yesterday from the base camp to the nearest settlement, a ski village called Penitentes.

"It will be a long day, but I'm sure it will be worth it to get hot water, steak and salad," said Schwankhart.

The pair succeeded on their first "7 summits 7 flights " expedition to Mount Elbrus, in Russia, in July. They expect to tackle Mount Kilimanjaro, in Tanzania, next.

• To follow the team's progress, visit www.7summits7flights.co.za