“I am doing this to mark Crown Prince Sultan’s safe homecoming. Also, I will be focusing on the cause of disability awareness,” said Ibrahim Hulayel Al-Mutairy, who will leave for Buenos Aires via London on Wednesday. He told Arab News that as part of his mission he would put the Saudi flag on the top of the mountain, along with photographs of both the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the Crown Prince and the logo of the Saudi Society for Disabled Children.

Mount Aconcagua (6959 meters) is the highest mountain outside Asia. It is the center of the Aconcagua Provincial Park, one of the most spectacular protected areas in Argentina. The 7,000-hectare park is located in the province of Mendoza, a few kilometers east of the border with Chile.

The 35-year-old Saudi who last summer went in an expedition to the North Pole, said that the idea of this adventure was presented to him by an Irish friend who gave him information and the address of an organization in Argentina that organizes such adventures.

Al-Mutairy, an entrepreneur from Makkah and father of four, was originally hesitant but Crown Prince Sultan’s safe homecoming after long treatment abroad made him decide to go to mark the prince’s return to Saudi Arabia.

“Also, encouragement from Prince Sultan bin Salman, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, and a great symbol for serving the disabled in our country pushed me to pursue the idea,” he said.

On the support he is receiving, Al-Mutairy said he was so far relying on his own resources, although he expected considerable support — moral and material — from the public and private sector.

“The achievement will not be mine alone, but rather it will be recorded on behalf of the nation as we and all dthat we own are properties of the nation,” Al-Mutairy said.