After four highest peaks, Shaikh Hassan Khan to scale Mount Vinson in Antarctica

New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Early next month, 36-year-old Shaikh Hassan Khan will start his expedition to climb Mount Vinson in Antarctica. Once complete, it will be the fifth-highest peak to be scaled by this Kerala government employee.

"The motto of the expedition is to create awareness about climate change and promote world peace," Khan told PTI.

In his pursuit to scale the highest peaks in the seven continents, so far, he has climbed four peaks -- Mount Everest (Asia), Mount Denali (North America), Mount Kilimanjaro (Africa) and Mount Elbrus (Europe).

"I will be starting my expedition to climb Mount Vinson in Antarctica early next month. The expedition is expected to be completed in 15 days. Once it is complete, I will look to climb Mount Aconcagua in Argentina (South America), which is also the world's highest peak outside the Himalayas," he said.

Khan, a native of Pandalam in Kerala, is on leave from his Kerala government job.

About his expedition, he said that Vinson Massif is a large mountain massif in Antarctica and is located about 1,200 kilometres from the South Pole, one of the coldest places on Earth.

According to Khan, he will also attempt to scale Ojes Del Salado in Chile next year. It is the highest peak in Chile and also the highest active volcano in the world.

He takes the help of his close friends for planning the trips and is a firm believer that society always helps in one way or the other when needed.

Last year, when Khan was climbing Mount Everest, he ran out of oxygen.

In his words, there was a near-death experience as his body slowly began to freeze, and the struggle continued for around 20 minutes before he managed to get a new oxygen cylinder. PTI RAM BAL BAL