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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 19, 1982 Guatemala City |
| Website | AndreaCardona.com |
| Climbing career | |
| Type of climber | Trekking, Hiking, Mountaineer, Motivational Speaker |
Andrea Cardona (born June 19, 1982) is a Guatemalan mountaineer, the first Central American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest and the first Latin American to complete the Adventurers Grand Slam.
Andrea Melissa Cardona Morfín was born in Guatemala City.
At age 18, inclined to engage in the Tourism Industry, she applied for a scholarship at the University of Genoa in Italy and four years later graduated from Tourism Economics. She later worked for a hotel chain in Sardinia and then in New York City, performing desk job in the marketing area.
Andrea applied for a job as a guide, which she found with a Brazilian tour operator based in Asia. After making seven treks to the base camp of Mount Everest and discovering an innate passion for mountaineering, she proposed to challenge herself as being "the first Central American woman to climb the highest peaks on earth" [1]
Among her main achievements and challenges are "The Seven Summits", "The Three Poles Challenge Planet" and "Explorers Grand Slam".
On May 23, 2010 Andrea Cardona became the first Central American woman to climb Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world and the so-called Third Pole of the Planet, being the third largest ice storage of the globe.
Subsequently, on December 28, 2011, began a new challenge in Antarctica after having skied 111.11 kilometers (equivalent to a terrestrial latitude) in a week, a woman got placed for the first time in history, the flag of Guatemala at the geographic South Pole.
On Tuesday, April 17, 2012, ended the challenge of the three poles of the planet, skiing 111.11 kilometers again, this time to the geographic north pole, which is located in the Arctic Ocean.
Thus Andrea Cardona carried the flag of Guatemala to a new record by becoming the first Latin American woman to accomplish this feat.
The Explorers Grand Slam or Adventurers Grand Slam is an adventurer's challenge to reach the North Pole, the South Pole, and all of the Seven Summits.
Some 28 people have completed the Explorers Grand Slam.
The Seven Summits are the highest mountains on each of the seven traditional continents. On 30 April 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the summit of all seven.
Khoo Swee Chiow is a Singaporean adventurer, author, consultant, and motivational speaker. Khoo is the first Southeast Asian and the fourth person in the world to complete The Explorers Grand Slam, that is, the North Pole, the South Pole, and the Seven Summits.
The Three Poles is an adventurer’s challenge to reach the North Pole, the South Pole, and the summit of Mount Everest.
Ajeet Bajaj is the first Indian to ski to the North Pole and complete the polar trilogy which entails skiing to the North Pole, South Pole and across the Greenland icecap. Bajaj and his daughter Deeya Bajaj were the first Indian father daughter team to climb Mt. Everest. He completed the Explorer's Grand Slam on 05 June 2022 while completing the Seven Summits with his daughter Deeya.
Omar Samra is a British-born Egyptian adventurer, entrepreneur and speaker. He is the first Egyptian to climb Mount Everest, the 7 Summits and ski to both the Geographic South and North Pole. He is also the first Egyptian to complete the 7 Summits challenge on 31 May 2013, climbing the highest mountain on all seven continents. Samra was the 31st is person in history to complete the "Explorers Grand Slam" challenge, which include climbing the highest mountain on every continent, the 7 summits, and skiing to both the South and North Poles. Samra has also been selected for the IIAS's PoSSUM program along with 2 other Egyptians, Abdelraouf El Waqad and Ahmed Farid
Sibusiso Vilane OIB is a South African adventurer, motivational speaker, and author of the book To the Top from Nowhere. An adventurer, marathon runner, mountaineer, and expedition leader, he has also served as the Chief Scout of Scouts South Africa.
Clare O'Leary is an Irish gastroenterologist, mountain climber and adventurer. She was the first Irish woman to climb Mount Everest and complete the Seven Summits.
The Explorer's Grand Slam is an adventurer goal to reach the North Pole and South Pole, as well as climb the Seven Summits.
Wang Lei is the first Chinese woman and the first Asian American who have climbed the Seven Summits and skied to both the North Pole and South Pole, the so-called Explorers Grand Slam.
Alison Levine is an American mountain climber, motivational speaker and leadership consultant. She is the author of On the Edge: The Art of High Impact Leadership and the executive producer of a documentary, The Glass Ceiling. She has ascended the highest peaks on every continent and also skied to both the North and South Poles. In 2010, she completed the Adventure Grand Slam by reaching the summit of Mount Everest.
Krushnaa Patil is an Indian climber. In 2009, at the age of 19, she became the youngest Indian woman to successfully ascent Mount Everest, earth's highest mountain.
Vanessa Audi Rhys O'Brien is a British and American mountaineer, sub-orbital spaceflight participant, explorer, author and former business executive. On 4 August 2022, O'Brien became the first woman to complete the Explorers' Extreme Trifecta – reaching extremes on land, sea, and air after she passed the Kármán line as part of Blue Origin NS-22 spaceflight. On 12 June 2020, O'Brien became the first woman to reach Earth's highest and lowest points, receiving a Guinness World Record. She became the first American woman to climb K2 and the first British woman to climb K2 and return safely on 28 July 2017, successfully leading a team of 12 members to the summit and back on her third attempt. She is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and an Honorary Advisory Member of The Scientific Exploration Society (SES).
Samina Khayal Baig is a Pakistani mountaineer who climbed Mount Everest in 2013, all Seven Summits by 2014, and K2 in 2022. She is the first Pakistani woman to climb Everest, K2 and the Seven Summits. She climbed Mt. Everest at the age of 21.
Tashi and Nungshi Malik are the first siblings and twins to climb the Seven Summits and reach the North and South Poles and complete the Adventurers Grand Slam and Three Poles Challenge.
Ryan Waters is an American mountaineer, mountaineering guide, and polar skiing guide.
Colin Timothy O'Brady is an American professional endurance athlete, motivational speaker and adventurer. He is a former professional triathlete, representing the United States on the ITU Triathlon World Cup circuit, racing in 25 countries on six continents from 2009 to 2015.
Masha Gordon is a British businesswoman, explorer and mountain climber. Gordon spent 16 years working in finance and capital markets. She was managing director of Goldman Sachs and most recently led the emerging markets portfolio management team at PIMCO.
Wang Jing is a Chinese climber, author, entrepreneur and member of The Explorers Club in the United States. Wang is best known for her feat in becoming the fastest woman in the world to complete the Explorers Grand Slam in 143 days and the fastest woman to climb Seven Summits with an assist from helicopters. The Explorers Grand Slam involves reaching the highest peak on every continent plus at a minimum of skiing the last degree (111 km) to the North and South poles. Wang recorded this adventure in her book Silence of the Summit, which was published in English in December 2018.
The Eight Summits is the collective name for the eight highest mountain peaks on each of the seven continents. It is an alternative name for the "Seven Summits" due to different ways in naming the highest mountain on the continent of Australia.
The Four Poles Challenge is an adventurer's challenge to reach the North Pole, the South Pole, the summit of Mount Everest and Challenger Deep.
