Andrea Cardona

Andrea Cardona (born June 19, 1982) is a Guatemalan mountaineer, the first Central American woman and the Caribbean to reach the world's highest peak on Mount Everest, 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level, and the first Latin American to complete the Adventurers Grand Slam.

Early life

Andrea Melissa Cardona Morfín was born in Guatemala City.

“I had the great fortune of having young and outgoing parents that loved to travel around Guatemala in search of adventure. Some of my favorite memories include hiking up the Pacaya volcano, where I had my first experience with lava. I also remember a trip to Semuc Champey, which was a real journey on a 4X4 Jeep. I remember the curiosity with which the Kekchi kids observed us, the intense sounds of the Cahabón River next to our tents, the clarity of the moon at night, and the feeling of being completely away from civilization.”

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.

With a global knowledge base in the tourist branch, Andrea applied for a job as a guide, which found in a Brazilian tour operator based in Asia. After making seven trekking to the base camp of Mount Everest and discovering an innate passion for mountaineering, proposed challenge herself as being "the first Central American woman to climb the highest peaks on earth"

Among her greatest achievements and recent challenges have are "The seven highest peaks on each continent", "The Three Poles Challenge Planet" and "Explorers Grand Slam".

The Three Poles Challenge

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 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.

Adventurers Grand Slam

The Explorers Grand Slam or Adventurers Grand Slam is an adventurers challenge to reach the North Pole, the South Pole and all of the Seven Summits.

Some 28 people have completed the Explorers Grand Slam.