Behold Aconcagua, the tallest mountain in the Americas and the highest point in the Western hemisphere. Situated in Mendoza province in Argentina, Aconcagua has two summits—north and south—connected by a ridge.

Between 1896 and 1897, a European expedition led by British mountaineer Edward FitzGerald tried and failed to reach the summit eight times. Finally, on January 14th, the Swiss guide Matthias Zurbriggen stood on the summit of Aconcagua. As far as he knew, it was the highest point a man had ever been. But he stood there alone, as FitzGerald had been forced to stop due to altitude sickness at 6,000m.

With a summit elevation of 6,961m above sea level, Aconcagua does make for a difficult climb, but that doesn’t stop around 3,500 climbers from attempting it each year.