H

aving scaled the highest summits in Indonesia, Tanzania and Russia over the past two years, three students from the Bandung-based Parahyangan Catholic University (Unpar) are set to climb Argentina'€™s Mount Aconcagua later this month, continuing their attempt to become the first Indonesian women to complete the globally famous Seven Summits challenge.

Grouped under the Women of Indonesia'€™s Seven Summits Expedition Mahitala Unpar (WISSEMU), Fransiska Dimitri Inkiriwang, Mathilda Dwi Lestari and Dian Indah Carolina completed the first step of their expedition in August 2014, reaching the top of the Cartenz Pyramid in Papua, which stands 4,848 meters above sea level.

In May the following year, the team conquered Tanzania'€™s Mt. Kilimanjaro (5,189 m) and Russia'€™s Mt. Elbrus (5,642 m).

Speaking recently to reporters, team leader Fransiska said the group'€™s expedition to climb the 6,962-meter-high Aconcagua, the highest mountain in South America, would start on Jan. 27.

While the current season is, according to Fransiska, the best time to take on Mt. Aconcagua, she noted that the expedition would be complicated by extreme weather changes and the so-called el viento blanco storm.

'€œThe wind velocity could reach up to 90 kilometers per hour, accompanied by fogs and snowfall; a truly dangerous storm,'€ she said on the sidelines of their departure ceremony in Bandung.

Extreme weather killed Indonesian climbers Norman Edwin and Didiek Samsu as they attempted to complete a similar challenge in 1992.

'€We are dedicating this expedition to our forerunners,'€ Fransiska said.

Dian, the team'€™s youngest climber, said the seven peaks were being tackled in ascending order of difficulty, and that each ascent provided lessons for the next.

'€œFrom our first three climbs, we'€™ve learned it'€™s better just to take instant and canned food with us,'€ Dian said, explaining that it was impractical to bring fresh food.

Mathilda, meanwhile, pointed to a different challenge '€” namely, how the trio would deal with their periods. Blood deficiency during menstruation, she said, affected the stamina of female climbers, given blood'€™s vital role of transmitting oxygen to the body'€™s cells.

As such, Mathilda said, she and her fellow climbers would take medicine to stop them menstruating for the duration of the trip.

In 2011, a group of four male climbers representing Unpar completed the seven-peak challenge; if WISSEMU similarly succeed, they will be the first Indonesian women to do so.

'€œA number of Indonesian women have attempted the challenge, but so far they'€™ve all failed,'€ said Sofyan Arief Fesa, a member of Unpar'€™s previous expedition team.

The Seven Summits represent the highest point on each of the seven continents.

The WISSEMU climbers said they were planning to climb Mt. Vinson in Antarctica in mid-2016, Mt. Denali in Alaska, US, in December and Mt. Everest on the Nepal-China border in March next year.

Unpar rector Mangadar Situmorang said that the attempt would build on previous achievements.

'€œThe three are climbing for us all. We must all back them '€” support will prove the key to success,'€ he said.