Lebanese mountaineer Frederic Sfeir climbing Mount Aconcagua in February 2025. (Credit: Photo courtesy of Life Happens Outdoors)
Where there is a will there is a way, and Frederic Sfeir has the will. The 30-year-old Lebanese mountaineer, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that causes progressive vision loss, successfully climbed Mount Aconcagua in Argentina on Feb. 22, falling only 400 meters short of reaching the summit.With his central vision blurred and his peripheral vision nearly nonexistent, the young man from Daraya (Kesrouan) embarked on this challenge with the support of Khalil Chehab, his childhood friend and guide. Their expedition began on Feb. 13 at an altitude of 2,900 meters at the base of one of the world’s seven highest peaks.Sfeir and Chehab spent several days acclimatizing at base camps alongside a group of mountaineers. On the final day of their climb, Feb. 22, they began their ascent at 4 a.m. "It was around...
Where there is a will there is a way, and Frederic Sfeir has the will. The 30-year-old Lebanese mountaineer, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that causes progressive vision loss, successfully climbed Mount Aconcagua in Argentina on Feb. 22, falling only 400 meters short of reaching the summit.With his central vision blurred and his peripheral vision nearly nonexistent, the young man from Daraya (Kesrouan) embarked on this challenge with the support of Khalil Chehab, his childhood friend and guide. Their expedition began on Feb. 13 at an altitude of 2,900 meters at the base of one of the world’s seven highest peaks.Sfeir and Chehab spent several days acclimatizing at base camps alongside a group of mountaineers. On the final day of their climb, Feb. 22, they began their ascent at 4 a.m. "It was around...